


The Lost Dragon In The North

by Happy27



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Blood and Violence, Dark Jon Snow, F/F, F/M, Fluff, House Stark, Jon Snow Knows Something, North of the Wall (ASoIaF), Pre-Season/Series 01, Secrets, The North Remembers (ASoIaF), Time Skips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:29:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 46,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21516073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Happy27/pseuds/Happy27
Summary: "We found him at the edge of the town along with two dead men"Ned didn't know what to think about that. Did someone want Jon dead? But why would anyone want to kill him? Dread filled him as he thought, 'had someone found out his true origins?'"I Killed them, Lord Stark"P.S: I have added a chapter before the original first chapter, In order to avoid some of the confusion.
Relationships: Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow/Undisclosed
Comments: 203
Kudos: 254





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and Welcome to my first ever fanfic.  
> I just had this idea in my head and it kept developing in my head, so I just had to type it down. Please excuse any grammar errors and all, as English is not my first language. 
> 
> Thanks for giving this a read and I hope you like it!

Jon woke up with a gasp. He had the same nightmare again. A couple of moons ago, he had started getting nightmares about fighting against dead men. When he told Robb about them he just laughed about it and told him to stop thinking too much about the stories old nan told them. His dreams weren't always nightmares though, as sometimes he would get dreams about flying, he enjoyed the feeling of the wind under his wings and the freedom.

He heard a tapping sound and looked towards the window to see a raven tapping on it. Getting out of bed and walking towards the window he noticed that the raven had 3 eyes. He must still be dreaming as he just walked up to the window and just stared at the raven. The raven stared back at him while tilting his head to one side. He shivered when the cold air from the outside hit him once he opened the window. The raven broke the staring contest and flew inside. He landed in front of his chamber door and stared back at him. 

It seemed like the raven wanted him to follow. He even felt like a nudge in his mind, like someone telling him to follow the raven. The next thing he knew he was standing in front of the statue of his Aunt, Lady Lyanna down in the crypts. It was easier for him to sneak in down here as it was still dark outside, with dawn still a couple of hours away, plus, there were hardly any guards around the area where his room was. 

He didn't know what he was supposed to do here. So, he just looked at the raven who was sitting on the shoulder of the statue and just staring at him. Jon and the Raven just stared at each other. After a few moments, Jon felt that nudge in his mind again and he knew what to do. All this time he thought he was still dreaming, but he realised that he wasn't when he cut himself while retrieving the hidden package and it hurt. He slowly unravelled the package to find a letter addressed to Jaehaerys Stark Targaryen along with other things. The letter was the first and last letter to her son, she talked about how she was sorry that she or the child's father won't be there for him, how her brothers will protect him, how he will grow up in Winterfell where she grew up, how he had the Stark hair and eyes but he had the Targaryen face, and reminding her son that he was just as much a wolf as he was a dragon. 

As he finished reading the letter he thought about all the times Lord Stark refused to speak about his sister or his mother, how she said that the child had Stark hair and eyes and that he will grow up in Winterfell, how the old lady in Winterfell once said how he reminded her more of Lyanna Stark then Lord Stark. But, he wasn't sure about this, he will have to ask Lord Stark, which he didn't want to if he could help it but there was no other wa-. 

He was broken from his thoughts when the raven started cawing and strangely it seemed like he was saying "Sta" and "Tar". When Jon looked at the raven, he stopped cawing and looked at the nearby torch. 

Retrieving his unburnt hand from the fire, Jon walked in front of his mother's statue and fell to his knees crying tears of happiness and sadness. 

* * *

Jon didn't know for how long he had cried in front of his mother's statue. He had sneaked out of Winterfell with a hunting bow and a small knife as he didn't want to return there until he had some control over his emotions. Now he was just walking around aimlessly at the edge of Wintertown.

"Who was his mother?" He was searching for the answer to that question ever since he learned that Lady Catelyn was not his mother. He had asked his fa- Lord Stark about his mother countless times growing up, but he refused to say anything about it. 

He had noticed how Lord Starks eyes were filled with love and adoration when he was looking at his children, but he never looked at him with the same eyes. Yes, there was love in his eyes when he looked at Jon, but it wasn't the same and there was sadness too. He knew that he was a bastard so his father couldn't treat and show affection to him the same way he did to his trueborn children, but he at least expected him to look at him as his son and for him to hold the same place in his father's heart as his other trueborn siblings had. 

What got his blood boiling was how Lord Stark won't even tell him if his mother was alive or dead. If his mother was alive then where was she? Didn't she want him? Did she love him?. If she was dead then it would hurt, but that would explain why she wasn't there for him, he could at least hang on to the hope that if she was alive then she would have been there for him and loved him. So, he didn't know if he would prefer for his mother to be dead or alive. Of course, he wasn't even granted an answer to that.

Theon was a hostage living in Winterfell to insure that his father doesn't rebel again. Jon was treated worse than Theon and Lord Stark had allowed that. He knew that Theon was a trueborn and an heir to the Iron Islands, but it doesn't change the fact that at the end of the day he was a hostage. He remembered all those crude remarks that Theon would make and every time he was filled with rage, but he held himself back because he didn't want to disappoint his father. He didn't know who his mother was, but he knew who his father was. He was the one constant in his life, he looked up to him, he wanted to be like his father and make him proud. Now, however, if Theon makes any remarks about his mother then he won't hold himself back and Lord Stark would lose his hostage. 

"-et rid of you. But, no one said we couldn't have a little fun with you before killing you" Jon was still aimlessly walking around when he heard someone say that. Not liking the sound of that he started making his way towards the direction where the voice came from. 

He came upon a clearing where 2 men were stepping towards a woman who was on the ground, backed up against a tree. She was frozen in place with a terrified look on her face.

"Mother! Leave my mother alone!" A boy around Jon's age said as he struggled to get up from the ground. The men just watched the boy struggling to get up from the ground and laughed. He walked and stood in front of his mother while glaring at the 2 men with one side of his face already bruised. The men stopped laughing and just punched him to the ground. 

Looking at the scene in front of him, something inside of Jon snapped. His emotions were all over the place from what he had learned last night and this didn't help him at all. He knew what it was like to live without a mother, had experienced the misery of never getting a mother's love, had always yearned for a mothers love, and these men were about to take away this boy's mother from him forever. 

The woman stared wide-eyed as the man in front of her started falling to the ground with an arrow going through his head. Looking towards the direction in which the arrow came from, she found a boy with a raised bow still held at it's firing position. 

"M-Mother?" she turned to look at the bruised and battered face of her son staring at her with concern. Throwing her arms around her son she hugged him tightly for the first time. Her son tensed up in her arms and then slowly embraced her with uncertainty. Mother and son broke their hug when they heard a scream.

Jon had fired more arrows as the second man advanced towards him with murder in his eyes. Unfortunately, none of them had hit their moving target. The man came up to him and knocked the bow out of his hands. 

The man tried to hit him, but Jon managed to dodge it. Thinking quickly he drew his knife and slashed at the man. The man screamed, falling to his knees while holding his bleeding thigh. Jon tried to attack him again, but this time the man managed to stop him mid-strike by grabbing his arm. 

Jon's eyes widened when the man drew his sword, while still holding on to his arm with the other hand. He was about to strike at him when he heard someone scream from behind the man and then the man's head was severed from his shoulders. Jon felt the grip on his arm slowly loosen up, while the man's headless body started to fall forward spraying Jon's front with blood. He ran his hands over his face to clear away some of the blood so that he could see clearly. He saw the woman standing there with a bloody sword in her hands. The boy started making his way towards him and asked: "Are you okay?".

She was thinking about all that had happened today. One thing was for sure, they had to leave this place, they couldn't stay here any longer for he had found them. Dropping the bloody sword to the ground which she had retrieved from the other dead man, she looked towards her son and the boy who were having a conversation but stopped after hearing the sword being dropped to the ground. 

"Thank you" She bowed her head to show how grateful she was towards the boy for saving her. "We have to leave this place before we are seen by anyone." The boy looked at her with confusion on his face.

"But, why? We can explain this to Lord Stark."

"No!, No we can't. I can't risk their lives. He will kill them if he finds out. We have to leave." She said with fear and determination in her eyes. 

"But, someone will come upon this soon, people frequently travel through this area and you won't be able to outrun the hounds they will pick up your smell."

"I-I we have to try. We can think of something." Jon could see the fear and uncertainty in her eyes. Even though Jon was angry at Lord Stark at the moment, he knew that Lord Stark was a just man and will help this woman and her son. But, she wasn't afraid for her life. She was afraid about the man harming someone else. It was the fear she had for this man versus the respect for Lord Stark. He could go with them, but then there will be the risk of the hounds catching up to them. 

Jon looked at the mother and son before saying:

"Go, no one will come after you. I'll stay here"   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only Ned and Howland know about Jon's parents. While Benjen has a doubt about it but not sure. I wanted Jon to find out about his parents, but not from either on them. Just think of this as the 3 Eyed raven taking a more active part in it. I hope this clears away most of the confusion.


	2. Chapter 2

Ten and two years. It has been ten and two years since Roberts rebellion. Their sellsword company which started with 4,000 fighting men and women was now 15,000 strong. They were doing well especially when you take into account that after a couple of years nearly half of their original force had left the company and headed north. One of the main reasons for their survival and success would be the Iron bank. Having the backing and being personally recommended by the Iron bank helps the reputation of the company. 

Still, that didn't mean it was easy in the beginning even with the support of the iron back. They had to adapt to the changed fighting conditions and styles which cost them quite a few contracts in the beginning due to their failure to complete the contract.

Their company was one of the few in Essos which offered it's clients protection on the sea as well. That got them a good number of contracts from anyone who sailed the narrow sea and wanted to go past the step stones as the chances of getting attacked by pirates or iron born in that part of the sea was high They didn't have many war galleys but they were building more and in the coming years they would have a strong fleet. They would have an even stronger presence in the sea then they used to have before they had to flee their home.

* * *

Never in her life did she think that she would end up staying in this part of the world. Okay, maybe there was that one time when she did think about living around here but that was under completely different situation and she definitely didn't see her self living this far north!

Closing the door to the chamber room containing two occupants and nodding at the guards at the door she was on her way to the hall. She pulled the cloak closer around herself to try and bury herself in it. Never would she be able to get used to this cold she supposed that was to be expected considering where she grew up in. 

Entering the hall she found him sitting at a table with their daughter and June. She daughter has silver-gold hair like her father and dark purple eyes like hers. 

"Mother!" Daena climbed into her lap as soon as she sat down next to her. Her husband and children were one of the reasons she was able to come out of the darkness that surrounded her life after the events that destroyed her once peaceful and happy life. The second reason was currently fast asleep in the bedchamber she just came from.

"you finished with your supper sweetling?" she asked her daughter who nodded her head quickly. She hugged her close while resting her chin on her head and smiling at her husband.

"and where is your brother?" there were other people in the hall men and women just having their supper and having small conversations. 

"uhh don't know" Daena squirmed in her lap

"could you be a sweet and go with June to look for your brother dear?"

"Yes!" Deana jumped out of her lap and went to look for her brother with June following behind her. A chuckle brought her eyes back to her husband.

" she can't stay in one place for too long can she?" his purple eyes sparkled with amusement as his black hair framed his face. 

she laughed "yeah, that little one just has too much energy" 

"How is she now?" the amusement faded away from his face and was replaced with concern as he asked her that.

"She is fine Jace, sleeping peacefully as we speak she just has a mild fever" 

Jace sighed with relief " maybe we should visit Essos for a few moons? we could all do with a break from this cold"

"Aye, we sure could" he laughed listening to her using the northern term and she laughed with him.

She knew why he wanted to get away from this cold. He didn't want to risk the health of the Girl sleeping upstairs and neither did she. After all, they owed it to the promises they both made to the girl's parents.

* * *

She looked around herself and all she could see was white. The whole town and its surroundings were covered in snow. it brought a smile to her face because this was her home. She was born in Winter town and now she didn't have many days left to live she could feel it in her bones. Ever since she could remember she always thought that she would be scared when it was her time to go but she wasn't scared now maybe it was because she has lived a long life.

It used to make her angry that the southerners thought of them as barbarians. Now however she doesn't care what they thought because this was the North her home and she was a proud northerner. The banner of a grey direwolf howling on a white background hung on the mighty walls of Winterfell in the distance. It reminded her of the time when the 3 starks used to often visit the town. Two of them had the wolfsblood in them they were wild and free. The youngest one of the pack was quiet and observant but she had seen the wolfsblood in him when he got angry after the eldest wolf pup of the pack, Brandon Stark pushed him past his limits. That was one of the rare times you could see the caring and loving nature of Lyanna Stark come out to comfort young Benjen. The 4th member of the wolf pack was fostering in the Vale at that time. That same Stark was now the lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North Lord Eddard Stark the Quiet-wolf. 

The mutterings of the people around the streets broke her out of her thoughts. wondering what that was all about she looked in the direction of the street and saw Jon Snow with two stark men-at-arms escorting him through the street in the direction of Winterfell. His tunic was covered in blood, had trasses of blood on his face and his hands were also bloody. 

"Jon, you okay," Raff a young lad around Jons age asked him from the crowd. 

The Starks didn't spend much time if any at all with the smallfolk of Wintertown except for Jon and Arya.

Eddard Stark was never meant to be the warden of the North but still, he is a good lord who kept peace in the North and was known around the whole of Westeros for his Honor. The people of the north loved and respected him. She and the older generation, however, could see how the south influenced him while he was being fostered at the Eyrie in Vale. Being married to a southern lady and making her the lady of Winterfell certainly didn't help matters at all. 

Honourable. That was a word which you never associated with the kings of winter or the wardens of the north before Rickard stark. That's not to say that they didn't have any honour. They had experienced winter and knew that in the north the only thing that mattered, in the end, was survival. 

A few years ago Robb started to visit the town often to try and get well acquainted with the people. He was a good lad with a good head on his shoulders however he was raised as a lord and had a lot of southern influence. Which led him to naturally look down on the people of the town and what made it worse was that he didn't even realise that he was looking down on them. So, the people of the town didn't open up to him and just approached him respectfully as their future lord. Now Robb would only visit the town with his father's ward Theon to get drunk and to visit the brothel. Lord Starks eldest Daughter was more of a southern lady like her Tully Mother. Brandon at six name days and Rickon at three name days were still too young to leave the castle as their lady mother would probably argue. She remembered when Lyarra Stark would visit the town with little Lyanna in her arms and Eddard walking beside her holding her hand. 

Arya would accompany her half-brother to the town whenever she could. Jon would spend most of his free time in the town. At first, people had their reservations about him and she understood that since he was a bastard. The North is indeed more accepting to base borns compared to some other southern lands, however, they still had their reservations about them. Also, He may be a bastard, yes, but he was the warden of the Norths bastard. Their Lords bastard so they didn't know how to act towards him first. Fortunately, after a few moons, people got to know him as a person and started to open up to him and accept him. Now, he would help around where ever he could around town and over time he had also befriended a few boys around his age from the town. Raff being one of those boys.

Jon looked in their direction and gave a sad smile and a nod. 

* * *

Ned was watching Bran practising his bow aim in the courtyard below. 

He glanced behind him at the sound of footsteps and found his wife making her way towards him. An image flashed in his mind where someone else was in his wives place. Someone he once loved. Someone who he hoped would be his wife someday. someone with dark raven hair and purple eyes. 

He shook himself out of those thoughts, that was what could have been. Instead, he focused on his wife and smiled at her. Even though they got married under some difficult circumstances and times. They were still able to find love in their marriage. She loved their children fiercely and followed her house words "Family, Duty, Honor". He could respect that since he was known for his honur across Westeros and followed the house words on his foster father "As High as Honor" as much as his house words. Even after living in the north for 11 years she still followed the southern customs and brought up their children in those customs as well. He wished she would adapt more to the northern ways but he supposed that was his role to teach his children the northern way, however, most of his time was consumed by the duties and responsibilities he had for being the warden of the north. Even then he has managed to teach them a few things the most important being that "when the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives". 

He towards her and reached out his hand " My La-"

"My Lord!"

He saw her eyes move in the direction of the voice behind him and a sour look passed over her face. Turning around he saw two guards escorting Jon into the courtyard. He sighed in relief once he saw Jon. Jon wasn't there this morning to break his fast and later on a frustrated Arya had come searching for him earlier on to tell him that she couldn't find Jon anywhere in the castle. Dusk was only a few hours away then, so he had sent some guards to look for him in winter town since Jon would visit the town often.

His relief was short-lived, however, as he spotted the trails of blood on his face and his tunic was covered in blood. Eyes widening in concern he rushed down the steps towards Jon. The boys and everyone in the courtyard were just staring at Jon in silence. 

As soon as he reached Jon he grabbed both his shoulders and asked: " Jon, what happened?"

Jon just kept staring straight ahead. It seemed as if he was lost in his world. One of the guards realising that he won't be answering and their Lord would ask them next decided to tell him what they knew. 

"We found him at the edge of the town along with two dead men"

Ned didn't know what to think about that. Did someone want Jon dead? But why would anyone want to kill him? Dread filled him as he thought, had someone found out his true origins? 

"I Killed them, Lord Stark"

A cold voice with barely restrained anger rang out across the eerie courtyard. 

It took him some time to realise that it was Jon who said those words. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and Thank you all for your comments, Kudos, Bookmarks and Love.

**Somewhere In The North (295AC)**

A boy of eleven name days and his mother were walking towards an inn in a town near Hornwood. The boy looked up at his mother beside him and she smiled at him. That smile from his mother filled him with warmth, as his mother had always been cold and distant towards him. All that only changed a couple of days ago.

They entered the inn and his mother ordered some food. While they were waiting for the food, he thought about the promise he made a few days ago. The promise was made in the heat of the moment and now that he thought about it he was starting to doubt himself and if the promise was worth it.

His mother nudged him to break him out of his thoughts. He thought the food had arrived but then she leaned in close to his ear and whispered " try and listen to the conversation the people on the other table are having" he just shrugged his shoulders and did what she said.

"-ou hear about the Bastard of Winterfell?"

"The bastard of Lord Stark?"

"Aye, the bastard finally showed his true colours. He killed two men near winter town. I heard he stuck an arrow in one's head and took the head off the shoulder of the other one. He confessed that he killed them but wouldn't say anything more. The bastard was sent to the wall to take the black "

The boy couldn't believe his ears. This went against everything he believes in. He looked at his mother and she seemed to be shaken just as much as him.

As soon as they were in the room his mother closed the door and made him sit down as she sat across from him. she opened and closed her mouth a couple of times but then she took a deep breath looked at him and started speaking.

"Son," it filled him with warmth when she called him her son. "I got to tell you that................. "

He was experiencing a variety of emotions when his mother stopped speaking. His mind was racing and he was a mess but the one thing that he was sure about now was that he was going to fulfil the promise he made a few days ago to the best of his abilities and would do whatever it takes to do so.

* * *

**Karhold**

"So Torr, what can I do for you?" Lord Rickard asked his son.

"Father, I have decided on what I want to do next in my life."

Being the 3rd son, gave Torrhen more freedom and choice about what he wanted to do with his life. He enjoyed reading and was always looking forward to learning about new things. What he enjoyed the most, however, was anything related to the North and its rich history. He knew that the past played a big part in making him what he is today and that applied to the North as well. A few days ago his father had called him and his siblings to the Lord's solar and told them about a part of the northern history that only the houses of the north knew about. Surprisingly, he didn't have a hard time believing in what his father told them about. That was significant when you considered that his father who told them about this didn't completely believe in it himself. He told them about it because of the sacred oath their ancestors swore hundreds of years ago.

"I want to travel across the North"

"so you want me to start writing letters to the other houses. Letting them know to expect you to pay them a visit in the near future?"

"No Father, I won't be visiting any of them. I want to travel across the north by visiting the smallfolk and living with them. I will be travelling from village to village all across the north."

"What?!, and why do you want to do this?" Lord Rickard was not at all pleased with his son's request.

"I want to do it for the north. I have spent quite some time thinking about the oath which you told us about a few days ago. The oath was taken by all the northern houses and only they know about it, but what about the smallfolk. They are the ones who will be doing most of the fighting if it ever comes to that."

"Don't tell me you really believe, that the long night will come again." His father scowled at him.

"I am not saying that it will come again. What I'm saying is that there is a possibility that it may come again. I always thought it as a story to scare children, but now that I thought about it seems more and more like a possibility. First of all, the long night, the time when it happened the magic in the north was strong. I can say this because of the wall being built at that time, our ancestors were said to be skinchangers, as well as the existence of the children of the forest. Secondly, for the possibility of the long night returning, it is said that, bran-the-builder built the wall after the battle of dawn to ensure that the north will never be caught off guard if the long night ever returned, The past few winters have been growing longer and longer and this time also we had a long summer which means a long winter, The story of how the Night King and the Night's King's corpse Queen offered sacrifices to the others during their 13-year long rule of the Nightfort, before Brandon-The-Breaker formed an alliance with Joramun the King-Beyond-The-Wall and ended the Night King's rule, and now this oath that you told us about." Torrhen finished and took deep breaths. As he said, he had thought about this long and hard, so he had come prepared.

"Where the fuck did you even learn about all this Torr?!" Rickard asked his son in surprise and awe.

"I remembered most of these things from grandmothers stories and then I went and asked the maester about what he knew."

"I can see what you mean, son. But, what about if they are just that, stories or what if the long night doesn't return in your lifetime?" Rickard still didn't believe in the long Night returning, but he will respect his sons believe in it the possibility of it returning.

"Even if it ain't true. This will still be a good experience for me as it will help me understand the smallfolk and their way of living. Plus, in the future, I'll be able to help Harrion be a good Lord by being the voice of the smallfolk and helping him understand what they need. As for the possibility of it not returning in my lifetime than I will just pass on my knowledge to my children along with the Oath."

"After all, father, our cousins always say that 'Winter Is Coming' and we are 'The Sun of Winter'"Torrhen grinned at his father.

"The Sun of Winter, "Lord Rickard Karstark couldn't help but say that along with his son with a small smile on his face.

* * *

**Castle black**

The atmosphere at castle black was dry and gloomy as Ser Alliser Thorne went through the practice drills with the recruits. Snow was sparing with one of the recruits and easily holding him off. The recruit was down soon enough with a sword pointed at his neck.

"I yield" Jon didn't take his eyes off his opponent even as he moved the sword away from his neck and kept a firm grip on it as he reached out a hand to the young lad on the ground. He had learned it the hard way that sparing here was not like sparing at Winterfell. They fought dirty here and wouldn't think twice about attacking him as soon as he took his eyes off them even if they had already yielded. Jon was one of the best fighters in his age group in Winterfell. He had trained long and hard to gain his skills and he was proud of them, as no one could deny him that he was a good swordsman even if he was a bastard.

It seems Snow had learnt his lesson to not let his guard down just because he had won. Thorne expected this to be the result of the spar. Snow was trained by a master-at-arms in Winterfell after all. He ordered 2 people to go up against Snow at once.

Thorne frowned as snow won the spar again. He had to admit though Snow was good for his age and he seemed pleased with himself.

"he seems a little too comfortable there huh?"

Nys muttered as he stepped next to Thorne. Thorne turned towards him and bowed his head a bit. Of course, Nys knew who this boy was, he was Eddard Stark's bastard. The honourable Lord had no choice but to banish his son to the wall three moons ago, charged with murder.

"Yeah, he needs to be brought down before it gets to his head."

"Allow me to do the honours"

Thorne smirked and thought 'This is going to be good' as Nys stepped in front of Snow.

Jon had noticed the person as soon as he stepped next to Ser Alliser. Thorne was cold towards all of the recruits and some of the other men here but he seemed to dislike him even more. He also noticed how Thorne greeted the person and unless his eyes weren't playing any tricks on him he even noticed him smile a tiny bit while interacting with the person. That smile soon turned into a smirk as the person stepped towards him. He also noticed how the person was followed by two other men and a young boy who might be the same age as Arya. They stopped near the edge of the circle and Jon focused on the person in front of him.

The person was covered head to toe. His head was covered by a scarf, which was then wrapped around his face leaving only the eyes visible to him. The people in Dorne were said to cover their faces like that to avoid the sand. Those set of eyes were the most intriguing eyes he had ever seen in his life, they were indigo.

The person lifted his sword and got into a stance which put most of the weight on the balls of his feet. Jon found that strange as he was always thought by master Rodrik to have a solid base by placing his feet apart and crouching low.

Nys could see the confusion on his opponents face once he got into his stance. As soon as Snow got into his stance Nys attacked.

Jon found himself on the ground for the second time. Ser Rodrik always said that he was graceful, quick and accurate in his strikes. He was even faster then Robb but his opponent today was faster than him, unpredictable and ruthless.

Snow was good he would admit that. He had held his ground against him for a few minutes each time. Nys saw the boy stand up with a snarl on his face. It reminded him of a direwolf like the one on the boy's house sigil. There was also a fire in his eyes now. Nys just shook his head, guess his opponent had decided to make it easier for him. Since Snow had given in to his anger he was prone to making mistakes now.

The boy hit the ground again with a sword pointed at his neck. Nys was surprised however as Snow had performed even better this time then the last two times. He reached his hand out to help the boy off the ground. Snow took a deep breath and his face was calm again. The boy took his hand with a smile and nodded at him.

"Thanks, you're good" huh? well, isn't this something he was expecting Snow to swat his hand away and storm off especially since some of the guys were laughing at him now. Even though he had just defeated them a while ago. He just nodded and walked away.

* * *

Jon was making his way to the upstairs with parchment in hand. As he approached the rookery he saw two men standing at the entrance of it. They told him to wait there as one of them went inside. The man returned, nodded at him and let him in.

As soon as Jon stepped inside the rookery he was hit with the smell of bird shit. He saw the maester but he was also accompanied by the guy who defeated him in the training yard yesterday. 'he should be grateful for that scarf around his face for blocking out the smell'.

"what can I do for you, young lad?"

Bringing forward the parchment Jon asked, "Maester if it isn't too much to ask I would like to send a raven to Winterfell?" He couldn't help but notice how the other person tensed a bit.

"Of course lad, I could do that for you" Jon smiled and handed the parchment to the maester. The maester went on the other side of the rookery to send the raven.

"You did well in the training yard yesterday" Jon turned towards the man as he heard his muffled voice because of the scarf.

"Thanks, but I still got a long way to go and you helped me realise that yesterday"

"someone had to do it before it got to your head" Nys shrugged  
"just remember to keep your emotions in check. You did perform better when you were angry at me during the last round, but that won't always be the case"

Jon had a confused look on his face before he said "but I wasn't angry with you. I was angry at myself for losing and for being overconfident. Me being angry with myself helped me concentrate better and to push myself to do better"

"normally people get blinded by their anger and make mistakes but I see what you mean it makes sense now" Nys nodded to himself as that also explained how the boy was able to regain his composure so quickly and to even accept his help to get off the ground.

"uhh, I didn't catch your name?"

"It's Nys, Jon"

Someone else would probably be happy if their name was known across the north. 'If people didn't know him before as the bastard of Winterfell, Now they would know him as the bastard of the Winterfell who was sent to the wall'. Jon thought bitterly. Nys's muffled voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"I guess, that parchment was for your Lord father," Nys noticed how a dark look crossed Snow's face as he said that.

"No, that was for my little sister, not for Lord Stark," Nys noticed how he referred to his father and raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

* * *

**North**

"Look at what we have here, boys. Three pretty maidens going through the forest all by themselves, maybe they could use some company?" His companions looked in the direction of the young women. They were all wearing travelling cloaks, but looking at their faces they could make out that they were young. Maybe in their early 20s. The men who had spotted them earlier stepped towards them and stopped in front of the women with grey/white hair.

"Well, what do you say to a-" he reached out his hand intending to grab her and pull her towards him. His hand never reached it's the intended target, however, as with a swift strike it was cut clean off and fell to the ground.

Branda smiled sweetly looking at the horrified look on the men's face while holding her sword to the side dripping with fresh blood. She waited patiently as the man staggered back and his horror was replaced with anger. Just when he opened his mouth again, she struck.

The remaining men watched in shocked silence as their companions head rolled on the ground. They looked towards the three young women as now all of them had their swords drawn. Before they could do anything they were attacked from all sides.

Branda was cleaning her sword when she felt someone come up beside her.

"You were supposed to be a distraction! You could have distracted them for longer."

"I did distract them."

"Not for long enough. Look at him" he pointed to one of their group members who were injured "that could have been avoided"

"Aye, that could have been avoided if those fuckers spent the same amount of time sword practising, as they did boasting about their sword skills."

"They could have died!"

"Well then, that would have been quite some motivation for the others, won't it?. They will know to work hard on their skills or else they will soon follow their dead comrades." She chuckled.

"No wonder why some of them have started to call you the 'bloody wolf'" the person just shock their head.

"Don't!" She growled at him with her teeth bared and her grey eyes narrowed.

She hated being called by that name, as it reminded her of the royal house she hated with a passion. No matter how much she hates them though, deep down she knew that she would never act on it because she doesn't hate the Starks as much as she loves the north.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think about this chapter.  
> Honestly, a bit nervous about how the stuff about the long night and all will be received.


	4. Chapter 4

**Castle Black (298AC)**

Jon was on watch duty, looking over the wall and lost in his thoughts. He remembered how Robb would often tease him for his brooding nature. The brooding, he just developed it over the years as he grew up. It all started when he was very young he was full of questions then, but most of the people in Winterfell ignored him as they were the ones who had accompanied Lady Catelyn north. Which led to him thinking to himself about why the things were the way they were. As he grew up, he realised how he was treated differently compared to his brother Robb and sister Sansa. He thought then that maybe he had done something to make them mad at him.

As soon as he had found out that Lady Catelyn was not his mother, he had asked himself who his mother was?. When he learnt what it meant to be a bastard, all he could ask himself was "why are they blaming me? I haven't done anything wrong?". He had been angry then and naturally he had a bad temper like a fire inside him. No one knew that because he kept that fire in check, as he didn't want to give people any more reasons to dislike him more. As he grew up, it became harder to keep the anger in check but now he knew where the fire came from and he embraced it. 

As he was told stories by old nan, he always wondered why and how things happened. When Maester Luwin used to tell them stories about the past wars, he and Robb would ask him about the glorious battles and their heads will be filled with gaining glory one day and being known all over Westeros. 

Once his mind was clear from the battles and glory though he would ask himself the questions which like; were the wars worth all the bloodshed? What happened to the family of all the soldiers who died? What happens to the smallfolk of the kingdom which lost? 

Thinking about all of this, he had realised years ago that it was the smallfolk but especially the women and the children who suffered the most during conflicts and wars.

"Jon" 

"Uncle Benjen, when did you get back?"Benjen had been on a ranging beyond the wall when Jon was sent to the wall. Jon still remembered the short conversation he had with uncle Benjen when he had learnt of what happened. 

**_Flashback:_ **

_"Did you kill those 2 men?"_

_"Aye"_

_"why?"_

_"....." Jon didn't answer that question, just like how he didn't answer to Lord Stark, that day in Winterfell._

_"Do you regret it?"_

_"No"_

_"Was it the right thing to do?"_

_"Yes"_

**_End_ **

"Just a while ago lad, here this came for you" Benjen handed him a parchment. 

"must be from Arya" Jon smiled, she was the only one who still wrote to him. Robb also used to write to him when he had first come to the wall but gradually over time he wrote to him less and less until he stopped writing to him at all. 

Jon and Arya were still close to each other, Benjen knew they wrote to each other often. A sad smile appeared on his face as those two reminded him of how he and Lya used to be thick as thieves while growing up. 

"I had a parchment waiting for me as well, it's from Ned" at the mention of his brother's name Jon got a cold look on his face. Benjen sighed and put a hand on his nephew's shoulder "Jon, it's been over 3 years now since you were sent to the wall and you haven't written to him, not even once."

"Lord Stark can just ask you about me if he is that concerned about a bastard" Jon just shrugged and turned away from him. 

Benjen was starting to get frustrated at how Jon was behaving and acting towards Ned. Normally he was able to keep a calm head, but he had been trying to get Jon to write to Ned for years now and the boy wouldn't hear a word of it. 

"It's not the same Jon and you know it! He is a father concerned about his son. Aye, he sent you to the wall but you know that was the right thing to do after what you did."

"You think this is about him sending me to the wall? Fuck, I would have come to the wall myself even if the honourable lord didn't make me." Jon laughed bitterly "I couldn't spend another day in Winterfell after that night." 

'What? if Jon wasn't mad at his brother for sending him to the wall, then what was he mad about?' "Jon, whatever the reason I'm sure that it's not worth all of this" 

"Don't!" Jon growled out at him as he turned around to face him. He had a cold look on his face and his hands clenched into fists. What shocked Benjen however were Jon's Eyes. The Stark grey eyes had turned dark with hints of violet and had fire dancing around in them. 

"Don't you speak about things you know nothing about Uncle" Jon continued through gritted teeth. "or maybe you do know some things"

Benjen had never seen Jon like this. Anyone who knew Jon would describe him as calm, sullen and brooding. But this, this was like Jon being barely able to control his temper. He had seen the wolfsblood in Brandon and Lya but this was more intense than that. It felt like the fire in Jon's eyes was going to burn him and the only thing holding back the fire in Jon was the cold look he had on his face. 

It was Fire and Ice.

* * *

The sound of steel hitting steel rang out in the courtyard of Castle Black. Jon was training Gren, Pyp and Edd. In the beginning, he had thought himself above the other recruits as they were mostly criminals sent to the wall as punishment for their crimes. Until one day someone called him a murderer, he was about to retort when he realised that no matter the reasons behind what he did, he was at the end of the day a murderer. He also realised that the other recruits will have their reasons for whatever crimes they did. Over the next few days, he met people who were wrongly accused or they didn't have any choice but to do what they did, like Pyp he was sent to the wall for stealing food for his 6 name days old little sister who had been hungry for days. He started to offer his fellow recruits advice on swordplay and over time he became a natural leader, friend and mentor towards them. Which led to Thorne disliking him even more. 

Jon was taking a break when he saw the maester heading towards the library. He had been thinking about something but he needed more information regarding certain things before he could propose his idea to anyone. Deciding that now was the best time as ever to go and talk to the maester he was off towards the library.

On his way he saw Rast in the stables, saddling up his horse, he had been sent to the wall charged with rape. He was recently appointed as a ranger. Jon would have been angry about this, as he was still serving as the personal steward to the Lord Commander. While he was angry with the position given to him before over the years he had noticed some things. Things like how most of the vicious criminals were appointed to rangers very quickly. These same rangers then would get "lost" beyond the wall, never to be seen again. When he had brought this up with Nys, he just told him to think of it as a cleanup operation. 

As he entered the library he saw the maester sitting on a table near the window with a scroll in hand.

"is that you, Jon?" The Maester said as he neared the table. He knew the maester was losing his eyesight slowly.

"yes, Maester. I just needed to ask you a few things"

"about what lad?"

"Trees"

"Trees?" he gave Jon a quizzical look but then just shrugged and carried on "well you're in luck since this library has quite a few books on trees and I had read them a few years ago. so I'll tell you what I can remember"

'that's great' Jon thought as he smiled "what type of trees are there in the Haunted forest?"

"let's see, there are oak, soldier pine, broadleaf, ash, ironwood and weirwood trees"

"I thought ironwood was only found in the wolfswood?"

"Oh no lad, you also find them in the haunted forest as well"

"Are there a lot of oak and ash trees out there?" Jon knew that these were good firewood trees.

"There is a decent amount of them in the haunted forest but there are a lot of old gnarled oaks on Bear island and Skagos has quite a few Ash trees if I remember correctly from the books" 

"That's all I needed to know," Jon had a pleased look on his face.

"The books are in that corner if you ever want to have a read yourself" he pointed towards the corner on the other side of the room and gave him a toothless smile.

"Thank you, Maester" Jon smiled at him as he turned around and left the library. 

As he came out of the library he could hear Thorne barking orders at someone. 'seems Yoren is back with some more recruits' he saw a portly man amongst the recruits, who looked rather out of place

and was looking very nervous with all that fidgeting in place.

"There you are, up for a spar Jon?" Jon smiled hearing the muffled voice and turned his head to the side to see Nys coming towards him with two men following behind him. 

* * *

Nys left her guards outside the library as she entered it. She remembered him saying that whenever he was angry or had too many things on his mind, he would either be hacking away at a training dummy or reading in the Winterfell library.

After their first meeting and spar years ago. They had kept finding themselves back in the training yard clashing swords with each other. It was just a way for her to pass some time while she was over at castle black. At least that was what she told herself, but deep down she felt some kind of connection to him she just couldn't explain what it was. It was like how she felt a connection with Maester Aemon, but this was much stronger. She had started spending more and more time with him to try and find out what this connection was and why it was there. At first, she didn't find anything but then a few moons after, an incident took place which changed that.

**_Flashback_ **

_Nys was standing next to Ser Alliser watching Jon spar against a much older opponent than him. Jon had managed to defeat his opponent and was walking away from him while keeping an eye on him, in case he tried anything._

_"Walk away snow, just like how Lord Stark must have walked away from your mother after he was done with her, in that brothel" guess the man wanted to have another go._

_Ser Alliser had said worse things about Lord Stark and Jon had just brushed those off as if he didn't care at all. This was the first time anyone had insulted his mother, so she like most of those present didn't know what to expect from Jon. He had this image of being the bastard son of the Most Honourable Lord in Westeros. Even though he was a bastard, he was still compared to his father and people expected him to be like his father. So far he had been living up to their expectations by helping the recruits, becoming their mentor and keeping away from the other vicious criminals._

_Jon had stopped mid-stride when he heard what the other man said. He dropped his sword to the ground which made people think he was just going to walk away. Instead, Jon turned around and walked up to the man who was still on the ground smirking. The next thing the man knew was that Jon was on top of him hammering down punch after punch on his face._

_People around them were just watching what was going on with stunned silence. As Jon continued to rain down punch after punch on the man's face, which had turned bloody by now and the blood was seeping into the snow below him painting it red._

_"Don't. talk. about. things. you. know. nothing. about." Jon growled out, as he followed each word with a punch to the bloody face._

_Ser Alliser was the first one to break out of his stupor, as he marched forward and tried to get Jon off the man who was beaten to within an inch of his life. Jon had turned around to face him and roared out like a dragon "WHAT?!" which made even Ser Alliser take a step back._

_Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it. That interference from Ser Alliser had been enough to get Jon out of his rage as he got up and walked off with bloodied hands._

_Everyone around including Nys was shocked to the core by this ruthless, savage and dark display from Jon._

_That was the day that Jon's "good guy" image was shattered._

**_End_ **

On the night of that incident, she had laid awake in her bed thinking about it. Most members had been appalled by the event of that day but, she realised that she wasn't. It was on the contrary actually, as she had just imagined that she was in Jon's place and the man with the bloody face on the ground was the man she wanted revenge against. The only difference was that she wouldn't have stopped until his skull had caved in, she wanted that man dead. 

After that day, this connection she had with him had only gotten stronger and she didn't question it anymore. Now she and Jon were quite close friends, her little brother, Alec also got on well with him and would often get Jon to spar with him. She would discuss anything and everything with him, except for the things which he wasn't supposed to know. Like her being a girl, which he had found out last night because of the attack on the Lord Commander of the night's watch, by whatever those things were. Just thinking about those things sent a shiver down her spine.

She found him sitting on the table with a candle on it, gazing intently into the fire. Discarding her scarf, as she approached him allowed her dark slightly curly hair to come out and flow past her shoulders. 

"Jon?" She said his name to get his attention, as he was still staring into the flame even as she sat down in front of him on the table. 

Jon was broken from his thoughts by someone calling his name. Moving his gaze upwards, he was greeted with the sight of Nys. Normally, finding out that Nys was actually a girl all along would have gotten a bigger reaction from Jon, but last night the conditions were anything but normal.

The Lord Commander and he were fighting against those things when Nys and her guards had burst through the door to help them. While fighting those things Nys had lost her scarf and her face was revealed. Unfortunately, they were a little too late.

"Jeor Mormont was a good man" he was staring directly at her and she stared right back.

"Aye, he was. I learned many things from him." Jon smiled a sad smile. He also smiled internally at how Nys was not willing to stop staring first. 

"How did you know that we were under attack?" that was something he couldn't figure out yet.

"well... umm... I don't know how to say this. You will probably think me mad, but I kind of just felt that you were in trouble" she would never him told him about this, thinking that he won't believe her at all, but after what they saw yesterday night, this doesn't sound so unbelievable. Breaking off their staring contest she gazed at the flame between them to try and come up with an explanation to explain this. 

"so you mean you felt it through our connection" he had a small smile and an amused look on his face, as he knew what would come next. 

"Yes, exactly I felt it through our conn-" eyes widening as her brain finally understood what he said and caught up with her mouth to stop her automatic response. She looked at him with wide eyes with her mouth slightly agape. 

Looking at her reaction, he couldn't stop the small chuckle that left his lips. " Aye, I can feel that connection as well. I don't know how or what it is. I stopped trying to figure it out some time ago." 

Now Nys did have some idea of what it could be, but she had her reasons to keep it to himself. Firstly, it was that she didn't trust him enough. Secondly, she didn't know how he would react as the last person who had brought up the matter was left with a bloody face. It not like she was scared of his reaction, but the main reason was that she knew that for him to react the way he did that day. It must be close to his heart and she couldn't even imagine how it must be like to not know who your mother was. After all, she had always known who her parents were and one look at her companion was enough to remind her who she was. 

"I guess there is no point of talking about it if it ain't going to lead us anywhere." 

"We will have to ask each other some questions if we are to get to try and understand this connection we have. Questions which we are not ready to answer yet as we don't trust each other enough." His face was blank now and staring intently at her as he said that. 

Nys just chuckled "that's one of the things I like about you, Jon. Blunt and straight to the point, no drama. And yes, it's exactly like you said" she just smiled at him and a smile broke out on his face as well. 

They just sat there in comfortable silence for a few moments before she said: "So, how are you dealing with one of my secrets?."

"I understand why you did it and I don't hold it against you, Nys. Wait that is your name right?" He asked with a questionable look on his face. 

Nys just laughed "Yes Jon, it is." He just laughed along with her.

He decided he quite liked the sound of her melodious laughter. 

* * *

**Somewhere In The North (298AC)**

A farmers wife was cowering in the corner, hugging her daughter close to her. The sounds of steel hitting steel, crashing, cursing and painful screams could be heard going on outside their dwelling. Her husband and son were fighting along with the rest of the people who could fight, to protect their small village. 

There was some dispute between Lord Karstark and Lord Bolton. Now they were sending men into each other's territories to harass the villages along the border. She didn't want to think about what fate awaited her and her daughter if they failed to defeat these men today. Hating the situation she found her self in at the moment and feeling so useless, she vowed to herself that if their village came out victorias today she would learn how to fight and when her daughter was old enough, she would teach her as well. Just like how her husband and son had learnt to fight, they were not great fighters, but they learnt what they could so that they could protect their family. 

She didn't know how long it had been, but finally, it was silent. A slow chant begins to build up until people were chanting at the top of their voices. She smiled and most of the tension left her body when she heard the word they were chanting. 

Getting up and picking up her daughter, who had cried herself to sleep. She started to walk towards the door. She knew that the scene outside would not be pleasant, not by any means. But she will have to face it because one day she would be fighting with them.

Making her way out the door, she saw that the snow was painted red with blood and bodies lying everywhere. Some of them were still alive and they were groaning and moaning in pain. Men wearing all black clothing with a white cloth tied around their arm were helping their own while giving quick deaths to the men bearing the flayed man sigil. 

Her eyes frantically searched for her husband and son. She was filled with relief when she saw them making their way towards her. They were hurt, but fortunately not too badly. 

Looking around she recognized some of the faces in the crowd. They were from the village across the border. They were also wearing all black with a white cloth tied around their arm. Just like her husband, son and the rest of the people from their village who had fought today. 

Just because an imaginary line was drawn on the land between their two villages didn't mean that they couldn't get along or help each other. After all, it was their Lords who were disputing with each other. Their two villages had nothing against each other. 

After their wounded had been taken care of. Someone started the chant again and their family joined in chanting at the top of their voice.

SNOW! 

SNOW!!

SNOW!!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Castle Black (298AC)**

Making his way towards the Lord commanders solar, he saw two guards standing at the door and another man looking down into the courtyard. As he approached them, the man turned towards him. He was a head taller than him and stood tall with broad shoulders and a lean build. People always said that he had a pretty face, but now he can finally say that he has met a man prettier than him, who had purple eyes and black of hair. 

"Jon Snow?" 

"Aye," Jon was standing in front of him now, tilting his head upwards to look at the man.

"I'm Jace Waters, I believe you are well acquainted with my daughter Nys and my son Alec," Jace said in a curious tone and held out his hand.

"Nys, he an-, I mean she and I are close friends and Alec, he is a good lad," Jon said as they shook hands. 

"They both and many people I have spoken to over here have good things to say about you, but I also haven't forgotten why you were sent to the wall, Jon." Jace had a firm grip on his hand, eyes narrowed and his voice had turned cold at the end of the sentence. 

"You know about my daughter now, make sure that no one else finds out about her from you." Finally, letting go of his hand, Jace indicated in the direction of the courtyard below. 

Looking in the courtyard below, Jon noticed that it was busier than usual. Jace tapped his hand on the railing twice. At least half of the people in the courtyard stopped what they were doing and looked up straight at Jon.

Jace tapped his hand on the railing again and they resumed what they were doing before. Tapping your hand on the railing doesn't produce much noise. So, that means these men were already keeping an eye on them. What's more, Jon had never seen most of these men before. 

"Shall we?" Jace said as he indicated towards the lords solar. 

Jon just nodded and started making his way towards the door with Jace following behind him. What Jace didn't know was that this little interaction was about to be used against him soon.

* * *

Alliser was looking towards the door waiting for Snow to show up. He knew that Jace was waiting outside his chamber to have a word with Snow. Lord Steward and the first Builder were sitting to his left. As the 998th Lord Commander of the Nights Watch, he had promoted loyal and trustworthy men to these posts a few days ago.  
Maester Aemon and Nys were sitting to his right. 

Snow entered the room with a blank look on his face followed by Jace, who had a pleased look on his face. Jace came around the table and took a seat next to Nys, while Jon took a seat across them. 

"Why have you called this meeting for snow?." Benjen Stark, the First Ranger was supposed to be here, but he was out on a ranging. 

"I have a suggestion which I think can benefit the Nights Watch greatly, my Lords, my Lady," Jon made sure to look at all of them while he said this and to bow his head a bit while he addressed them and Nys. Maester and Nys smiled at him while the rest just nodded.

"While serving as the personal steward of Lord Commander Mormont, he told me that most of our food comes from the Northern great houses. However, over the years they had started to send us less and less food and with winter approaching in the coming years it would get even worse."

"I agree with you on that. That is, indeed the case from what I can tell from the records" the First Steward said nodding towards Jon. 

"The Nights watch is reduced to being just a place to dump criminals," Jon said bluntly as that was the truth. None of them could argue about that so they just nodded.

"I want us to look into a different direction for us to get food." 

"What direction would that be Snow?."

"Trade. I propose we trade fi-"

"Why would the seven kingdoms trade with us? and more importantly, what do we have that is worth anything?" The First Builder asked with a confused look on his face. 

"We have trees. Traditionally the brothers of the Nights Watch would cut all trees within half a mile of the wall. Over the years, however, the treeline has crept closer to the wall, aside from the inhabited forts of the Shadow Tower, Castle Black and Eastwatch-by-the-sea. We can start by clearing those and start trading wood for food. Oak and Ash trees provide the best firewood, Pines are great fire starters and can be used for furniture and Ironwood is a hard, black wood which is only found in the wolfswood and the haunted forest beyond the wall, it can be used as a support structure for buildings. The doors to the crypts beneath Winterfell are made of ironwood. These are just a few of the trees and their uses. There will be other trees with their uses." 

"That may sound good Snow, but I don't see the other kingdoms trading with us. There is a range of different type of trees all across the seven kingdoms." 

"We won't be trading with the other kingdoms." That statement got him confused looks from all of them except for maester Aemon who seemed impressed and was smiling. 

"We will trade with Essos using the few ships we have at Eastwatch-by-the-sea. As for why Essos needs firewood, Nys has been around Essos and she has mentioned a few times, that in places like Quarth, Old Ghis, Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen which are close to the Red Waste. It is extremely warm there during the day, but at night it gets just as cold. There is the forest of Qohor in Essos, but it is a sparse forest." 

"What if the other kingdoms are already trading with the Essos? Why would Essos prefer to trade with us over them?." The First Builder asked sceptically.

"We will mostly be trading for food, compared to the other kingdoms which are mostly trading for gold. I'm sure that they would much rather prefer to trade food than gold."

"We only have 3 large vessels capable of crossing the narrow sea. The Blackbird, the Talon and the Storm Crow. The Talon and the Storm Crow are faster than the Blackbird, but they are not as good in storms as the rowers sit on the open deck." Maester Aemon explained as he could see some potential in Jons idea. They may be starting with training wood, but over time they could find more things they could trade and it would give them a constant supply of food and other materials they need. 

"We could build more ships. I have men and women with experience in shipbuilding and sailing." Jace said with a twinkle in his eyes. He knew about their food problem and has been looking for a possible solution himself, for a while now. This may not be the best of ideas, but it could work. 

"Any wood being used as firewood will have to be seasoned. We can trade seasoned firewood for a higher price. It can take up to 6 moons to a year to season firewood. The seasoning process will be quicker if we could store the wood somewhere in Essos." Maester Aemon said and then looked towards Jace as if to ask if that was possible. 

"Yes, I could arrange for a place to store firewood in Essos." Jon raised an eyebrow at both of Jaces statements. 

"We will also need to build some warships to escort our trade ships and protect them from pirates," Nys said in a suggestive tone. All of them just nodded.

"Will it be possible to build ships at Eastwatch-by-the-sea Jace?"Alliser was sceptical about Snow's idea, but he would go along with it since the others were agreeing to it. 

"We won't be building them there. I suggest we keep this a secret from the North. If the Northen Lords find out, then it will just delay us and some of them would want to get something for themselves out of this. The North has no presence in the sea so they won't find out. As for the other kingdoms, they have stopped caring about the Nights Watch decades ago" Jon intervenes before Jace could answer the Lord Commanders question. 

"That is a good point, Jon. I can see that most of us agree with you on that. Do you have any place in mind where we can build them?" Jace said while looking around at the others, Alliser even gave an approving nod. 

"We will build them on Skane which is an uninhabited isle north of the island of Skagos. And the Skagosi and house Mormont will help us. Bear Island has a good number of tall pines, flowering thornbushes and old gnarled oaks. Skagos has pines and ash trees." Jon was sure he would have been interrupted if all the people in the room were not busy trying to process what he just said. The people of Skagos were generally despised by the Northmen and had minimal contact with the mainland. He had heard all sorts of rumours about the people of skagos, but Jon didn't believe in rumours anymore. He knew that sometimes the truth is far from what people believe it to be. 

"You just said we wouldn't involve the north in this Snow!" Alliser said in a bitter tone. 

"Yes, I did say that bu-"

"May I remind you boy that the Nights Watch doesn't get involved in the matters of the realm."The Lord commander interrupted Jon while emphasizing the word boy. 

"Then why are you getting involved in the matters of the realm, my Lord?" Jon asked Ser Alliser in a calm tone with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that boy?" Alliser narrowed his eyes at Snow.

"If he is a bastard, then I'm a prince," Jon said in a sarcastic tone while pointing at Jace. " the way he handles himself, how he interacted with the guards at the door earlier and the way he commands respect. No bastard will act that way or command respect like that. As no matter how high a bastard may rise they will remember where they came from. They will always have that doubt which holds them back and stops them from commanding respect in such a way as this Highborn lord does." Before any of them could speak, Jon continued speaking.

"Nys is always followed around by her 2 guards. She is not a member of the Nights Watch and yet is allowed to come and go as she pleases. Her brother Alec is not a member as well and whenever Nys and Alec have left from Castle black before dusk, they never carry any food or materials to camp for the night. So that could only mean that they live nearby. Alec mentioned how they all live together as a family. They both are here at this meeting which should only concern the members of the Nights Watch. So tell me, my lord, why are you hosting a highborn lord and his family from the south at the wall?." Jon finished speaking and looked at all the other people in the room. They were all tense except for Nys, who had a calm expression on her face and was even smiling.

"I don't have to answer myself to you, Snow" The lord commander hissed out at Jon.

"You better think carefully before saying your next words lad and remember what I showed you earlier," Jace said with narrowed eyes.

"We could get rid of you here and now, Snow." The First Builder said with a sneer.

"Enough!" Nys said with an authoritative tone and everyone focused their attention on her. "I know you well enough Jon, So I know that you will keep this to yourself unless you think that we are doing anything wrong or putting the north in harm's way."

"Aye, I may not know all your secrets, but I believe that you aren't doing any of those things. I can even be convinced to take a secret oath in the name of the Old Gods to keep this to myself. If you all will agree to let Bear Island and Skagos trade along with us and to buildings ships on their shores." most of the people breathed a sigh of relief when he said that. They knew the worth of an Oath in the name of the Old Gods. It was a sacred oath in the North. 

"Why do you want to bring them into the fold?"

"House Mormont is left on its own to defend for themselves against the Ironborn from the south and the wildlings from the north. It is among the great houses of the north and yet no one is willing to help them with their problems. Most of them won't help unless they get something in return. Bear Island is distant and poor, but they are good, loyal men and women of the north and they deserve better. The Skagosi are despised by the Northmen, treated as if they don't belong in the north. I know how it is to feel like you don't belong where you live." Jon said with conviction in his eyes. 

Nys smiled looking at Jon. She could lose herself in the fire that was burning in Jons eyes now. Jace was honestly impressed with all the qualities he had seen in Jon so far today. The way he said all those things, in the end, it commanded you to listen. It was like a king giving a speech, he was a natural leader. He had a final question to ask tough "How are we going to keep this from the north. If you involve the Bear Islands and Skagos?."

"Yes Lad, Skagosi have minimal contact with the mainland so they won't be a big problem if they do agree, but Bear Island?. House Mormont is fiercely loyal to House Stark." Maester Aemon shared his thoughts on the matter in an informative tone. 

"House Mormont won't be breaking faith with House Stark by doing this. As all this does is help House Mormont and it won't cause any harm to House Stark or the north. All the houses have their secrets." Jon tried to convince them, but The Lord Commander still wasn't convinced.

"Why would they listen to you? You may have the Stark blood, but you are only a bastard." Alliser's tone of voice and being referred to as boy or bastard throughout this meeting by him finally made Jon snap at him.

"I have the blood of the first men and the blood of o-" Jon stopped himself mid-sentence and took a deep breath to calm down his fire. "I will have Lady Maege Mormont swear it by Old Gods in front of any of you." 'So Jon does know who his mother is.' Nys thought as she noticed Jon's slip up earlier. 

"And why would she do that?" Alliser asked in a calmer tone now. Seems like even he didn't want to face Jon's temper.

Jon just looked at the Lord Commander dead in the eye with his lips quirking up a bit and said:

"The North Remembers" 

* * *

Jace stared across the bay of Ice sea. He along with his Son were accompanying Jon and the others to Bear Island. The sea is where he felt most at peace, on a boat rocking from side to side. He guessed that was the result of him growing up on an island, surrounded by sea, and being introduced to a seafarer's life from a young age. After all, it was traditional for the sons of House Velaryon to be given a taste of a seafarer's life when young. 

Thinking back to how he ended up so far up in the North. It all started just before the rebellion began when crown prince Rhaeger Targaryen requested his father, Lucerys Velaryon, who was on the small council as the master of ships, to look after his family, brother and Queen Rhaella. His father knew Rhaeger since he was a child. He had assured Rhaeger that House Velaryon will stand by their fellow Valyrian descendants and reminded him of their house words: " The Old, The True, The Brave". 

Houses Targaryen and Velaryon shared very close relations between them, with multiple marriages between the houses both before and after the wars of conquest. In fact, Valaena Velaryon married Aerion Targaryen, and they had three children: Visenya, Aegon and Rhaenys. Valaena herself was half Targaryan as she was born from a marriage between the two houses.

When the royalist lost the battle of the bells, the mad Kings behaviour started to get worse. Fearing for the safety of the Royal family, they had done what they could but, had only managed to get princess Rhaenys out of Kings landing as the King had a closer eye on the Queen, Princess Elia, Prince Aegon, and Pince Viserys.

The King had ordered the evacuation of Queen Rhaella and Prince Viserys to Dragonstone after he learnt of the death of Rhaeger in the Battle of the Trident. His father and Ser Willam Darry had accompanied and stayed with the Queen and the Prince at Dragonstone. 

After the sack of kings landing, Robert being crowned King of the seven kingdoms, and the fate of Princess Elia fake Rhaenys and Prince Aegon. Knowing that they couldn't risk the safety of the Princess, his father had sailed to Claw Isle from Dragonstone to discuss this with Lord and Lady Celtigar. House Celtiger is a House of Valyrian descent, like House Targaryen and Velaryon. The next day himself and his brother had joined them with all the information they had managed to gather about the aftermath of the rebellion. 

Prior to coming to claw Isle, He and his brother had called for a gathering of all the Lords and Ladies of the Crownlands. The Crownlands had joined the fight against the rebellion with a force of 15,000. By the end of the rebellion, 5,000 had died with another 2000 injured. The casualties would have been a lot worse had the royalist army not retreated in good order after they lost the battle of the bells. At the battle of the Trident as well the battle was not fought till the end, as the battle was decided when Rhaeger and Robert met in single combat. After the fall of Rhaeger, the leaderless Royal Army broke and fled.

Most of the Lords and Ladies of the crownlands had expressed their concerns regarding food shortages. During the Rebellion the food was being directed towards the royalist army, The Rebellion had lasted for more than a year, most of the people from the crownlands were in the Royal army, so the harvest was low. On top of all that, having lost the war they will have to face the consequences. Consequences like raised taxes on trade among other things, which will not help their food shortage problems at all. There had also been reports of some of the villages being harassed. 

Based on all the information and the situation that they found them in Lady Caltiger had suggested that they could use this to their advantage, by moving some people and settling elsewhere. That would help them as the further away the Princess was from Kings Landing the better. Plus, it would also help with the Crownlands food shortage problem as there will be fewer people to feed. 

He had been doubtful about people willing to leave their home and settle elsewhere. So, he had voiced his concerns regarding that. Lord Caltiger had told him that this was not just about the food shortages for the people. Before Aegon's Conquest, the crownlands were ruled by small petty kings, unlike the other big kingdoms. As a result of which there would be a lot of small skirmishes and conflicts, With the petty kings fighting against each other. These were nowhere near as big as the other kingdoms waging war on one another, but these small skirmishes were way more frequent. So, the smallfolk never got to experience peaceful times very often or for a significant amount of time. 

Now for the first time since Aegon's Conquest 283 years ago, a non-Targaryen was going to rule over them. Yes, Robert had the Targaryen blood in his veins through his grandmother Rhaelle Targaryen, but he didn't have the name. 

It was a change and as humans, we don't like change.

Moving and settling somewhere will be a change, but that will be a change that they will have control over. A change they choose themselves and not forced upon them. 

A sennight later, He along with his half-brother Aurane were saying their farewells to their brother Manford Velaryon, before boarding one of their war galleys, The pride of Driftmark. With some of their Men-at-arms, people who were willing to relocate, and Princess Rhaenys already on board ready to head towards Braavos. 

Over the next moons, more and more people had joined them in Braavos. As time went on they had enough men to start their own Sellsword company. The Iron bank had even said that they would personally recommend their company to the clients. As for why the Iron bank was willing to help them, that was thanks to the amount of Gold House Velaryon had stashed in their bank. After all, Once upon a time, House Velaryon had been the richest House in the Seven Kingdoms, Thanks to the Sea Snake, Lord Corlys Velaryon and his many voyages across the seas of the World. 

In a few moons, they had received the news about the assault on Dragonstone. Soon after that, they had been joined by his father in Braavos. He along with Ser Willam Darry and 2 other loyalists had managed to smuggle Viserys, Daenerys and a wet nurse out of Dragonstone. The world believed his father died in the ferocious storm that destroyed most of the Targaryen and Velaryon fleet in the same night that Daenerys was born. Even though Viserys and Daenerys were in the same city they couldn't offer them any protection. If news got back in Kings Landing that they were helping the Targaryens then their family back home will have to face the consequences. Also, they couldn't risk them finding out about Princess Rhaenys. However, that didn't stop them from helping the Targaryen children from the shadows. 

His father wasn't alone when he had Joined them in Braavos. He was accompanied by another person the world believed dead, Lady Ashara Dayne. 

Ashara was a good friend of Princess Elia. So, Rhaenys already knew her and got along well with her. The Princess needed a familiar face among all the new faces and a mother figure while growing up along with a father figure. Himself and Lady Ashara Pretended to be the Rhaenys's parents. They made quite a believable family with the princesses Dornish looks coming from lady Ashara and her Valyrian features from him.

Only Ashara and Lord Adric Dayne knew about the princess's survival. Not even the Princess's Dornish Uncles knew about her survival. There were two main reasons for that, The first being that after the fate of the Dornish Princess and her children during the sack of Kings Landing, Dorne was the most closely watched Kingdom and Sunspear was full of spies reporting back any developments. The second was a humble request that Princess Elia had made to his father. Knowing about the game of thrones and how some people were just a pawn in someone's big plan, Elia didn't want her daughter to be a pawn in someone else's plan.   
She wanted her daughter to have a childhood without any influence from anyone and for her to make her own decision when she comes of age. 

It had been a few years since they came to Braavos and their sellsword company was doing well. Unfortunately for them that also meant that the company was gaining a lot of attention. Especially since it was associated with the Iron Bank. They had more people wanting to join their company, some were even Westerosi. His father told them that these were probably spies either from some lords in Westeros or from Varys, the master of whispers. They knew that they had to move and couldn't risk staying with the company any longer. If anyone even caught a glimpse of the Princess and her companion than they will be in a lot of trouble. 

They needed a place which was vast in terms of landmass, was sparsely populated and was mostly left alone. Lady Ashara had suggested the North. They couldn't come up with any reasons against why that wasn't a good idea, except for it being cold. Some people believed the North to be as large as the rest of the seven kingdoms combined, it was sparsely populated and that would be the last place anyone would expect to find a Targaryen. His father remembered Prince Rhaeger telling him about the Maester of Castle Black being Aemon Targaryen. 

He was then tasked with travelling north and asking for help from Maester Aemon. He remembered how the maester's face had lit up with a smile when he said he was from house Velaryon. When he told the maester about the Princess's survival he had tears running down his face. Maester Aemon was going to do everything he could to help his last remaining family. 

With the Maesters influence, and with the help of Alliser Thorne and Jaremy Rykker, who had risen to respectable posts since joining the Night's Watch. They had managed to get Jaremy Rykker as the commander at the Shadow Tower. Over time they had also managed to make sure that only the loyalists, who were sent to the wall after the rebellion, were stationed at the Shadow Tower. 

A few of their people had then travelled to the North and settled below the shadow tower in the gift. With more people joining them as time went on. They made sure that the few people who travelled north had travelled separately and over a long period of time to not raise any suspicion from anyone. Eventually, he, Lady Ashara and the Princess had joined them.

More than 10 years had passed since they came to the North. Father and his half-brother were still in Essos in command of the company, while his brother Manford was now Lord Velaryon.

"Father, look" oh and in those years he, Jacaerys Velaryon, had married Lady Ashara and had 2 children with her. 

His eyes narrowed when he saw what his son was pointing out, an Ironborn Longship. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Bear Island**

Lyra was accompanying her mother and elder sister along with a dozen of their household guards as they headed towards the pier in pursuit of the kidnappers. 

"Are you ready to kill some squids sis?" Alysane asked her with a grin on her face.

"Aye, you bet I am" she raised her spiked mace and grinned back. 

"remember getting the girls safely back to their parents is the main goal here" Maege reminded all of them.

Lyra nodded along with everyone else. They had just come out of the tree line into a clearing when she heard the sound of steel hitting steel and screams. The sound was coming from ahead of them from the direction of the pier. Maybe someone had encountered the kidnappers and were fighting them. But, they had left town as quickly as they got the word and had taken the quickest route to the pier. So, if the squids were fighting then that meant that their cover was blown while they were making their way to the pier or else they could have quietly made their way into the open sea as word of the kidnapping wouldn't have reached the pier yet. It was probably the girls who blew up their cover by fighting them tooth and nail to try and escape from them.   
They were getting closer to the fighting now which now seemed to be slowing down, but she still couldn't make out anything because of the dark. 

When they finally got to the fighting scene the fighting had stopped. They were close to the pier now and she could see 3 men with 2 girls getting onto a boat. She looked ahead at the group of men that was now surrounded by them. There were 8 men and one boy maybe around 10 name days old. They all still had their swords drawn with some of them having cuts and nicks from the recent fighting. The ground was red with blood and bodies of the Ironborn. She could count around 12 of them. 

"Why did you let them escape?" Maege asked while pointing towards the direction of the Ironborn in open water now. 

"After they realised that they were losing, the remaining men threatened to kill the girls if we tried to stop them, My Lady" one of them answered her mother while sheathing his sword away. The rest of the men soon followed him and put their swords away. 

"Death would have been a better option compared to what those girls will have to go through now. Fuck those squids and their way of living" Maege spat on the ground. 

"The girls will be brought back safely, my Lady. On our way here we came across an Ironborn longship. Knowing the way of living of the Ironborn we boarded and captured the ship with little resistance as the Ironborn had left only a few men on board not expecting any attack. Fortunately. I had men with me who knew a thing or two about ships. I left them on the ship while I made my way to shore." 

Maege breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that the girls will be safe, but she couldn't just trust these men yet as all this while she thought that these were local men from the island. She took a torch and stepped closer to the group of men. As she stepped closer she could now make out that all of them were dressed in all black and the one she was speaking to was a young man around Lyras age. She narrowed her eyes when she noticed his features. Long face, shoulder-length curly black hair with grey eyes which looked almost black and if she looked closely she could make out hints of violet in them. He was a pretty lad, maybe the rumours about his mother being Ashara Dayne had some truth in them after all. 

"Jon Snow, what are you doing here along with the men of the Night's Watch?" 

Lyra and Aly had stepped up next their mother on both sides. Lyra had heard about Jon before but never seen him. Honestly, she was a bit surprised by how much he resembled Lord Stark. She had accompanied her Mother to Winterfell a moon ago for the 15th name day celebration of Robb Stark. Jon put his hand on the sword handle and everyone tensed. He was probably expecting that as he didn't make any move for a while and then slowly unsheathed the sword. Her eyes widened when she saw that the sword had a bears head for the pommel along with ripples in the dark steel. It was Longclaw the ancestral valyrian steel bastard sword of House Mormont. 

"We are here to return some personal things of Jeor Mormont along with this sword which belongs in the hands of a Mormont. We are also here with a trade proposal." Jon offered up the sword towards Lady Maege. He quite liked the sword, it was very similar to his own which he couldn't use yet without raising too many questions from others. 

Maege took the offered sword in her hands with a sad smile. She had received the raven a couple of sennights ago.

The sword was covered in fresh Ironborn blood. She knew her heir Dacey would wield the sword well. A trade proposal she wondered what that was about and that coming from a member of the nights watch. Who didn't get involved in the matters of the realm? Jon Snow, she didn't know what to make of him. Oh, she had heard lots of things about him especially when she went to Winterfell a moon ago, but she would like to see for herself how much of that was true. 

"shall we walk to the pier and wait for your men there?"

"we could do, my lady. But could some of my brothers, who are injured be taken to a maester?" Jon indicated to the men mentioned. Maege just nodded and then turned towards her daughter. 

"Aly, take some guards and escort these men to see the maester." 

Maege started walking towards the port with Lyra falling in step with her along with Jon and the remaining men. 

"Tell me, Jon, how did a 12 name days old boy manage to kill two grown armed men and on top of that manage to behead one?" Maege asked with a raised eyebrow. She caught how Jon's eyes widened just a bit before they went back to normal and he just stayed silent. From that alone, she knew that there was more to the story then what he was letting on. She knew most people knew that as well, but since he was a bastard and already sent to the wall they just let it be. 

"you ever wish you hadn't done it so that you could still be in Winterfell lad?"

"I would change nothing about that day." that was the half-truth, in reality, he could have handled the situation better if he was in a better state of mind at that time.

"not even if it meant that you could be there to watch the she-wolf grow up?" this time he turned towards her with a raised eyebrow.

"The she-wolf?" 

"Aye, I know how close you are with Arya, Jon. She couldn't stop telling all the stories you told her about the wall to my daughter Lyra here." Jon looked towards Lyra who nodded.

"Aye, and when she finished, she asked me to tell her everything I knew about the wall," Lyra said with a chuckle. Jon smiled listening to that, but then a sad smile graced his face.

"You can't always have everything you want, My Lady." 

* * *

  
Jace was nervously waiting for Lady Maeges response to their trade proposal. She could easily say no to them and tell Lord Stark that the Night's Watch was looking to trade with Essos. Something which they wanted to avoid, but they had taken this risk based on Jon's assurance that he will have the leader of Bear Island swear it by the Old Gods that she won't reveal anything about this meeting even if she says no their deal. It was Jon who came up with the trading idea, so it was good to see him taking responsibility for it. 

He was glad to have brought along some of his men, he was not at all surprised by how easily they had dealt with the Ironborn. These were battle-hardened men who were part of their sellsword company in Essos. Some years after they had settled in the North, they had decided to give the men in their company, who were injured or just wanted a break from all the fighting, the choice to move North for some time. Most of them or their families had probably never seen snow in their life, so when possible they would move North along with their family and spend some time here. This choice was also available to their people already living in the North, so they could go and spend some time within the company in Essos. This helped all the people who were coming of age to gain some valuable battle experience. 

He frowned thinking about how even the Princess had spent some time in the sellsword company, fighting alongside their men in Essos. He and his wife had come to care for the princess like their own daughter, he knew the same was true from the princess's side as well, especially with how close she was to Ashara. But, that didn't mean she forgot who her parents were and who she is. 

He was against the princess joining the company from the beginning as he didn't want her to put her life at risk like this, he thought Ashara would help him to talk Nys out of this. Instead, His wife had just shaken her head at him and laughed while telling him to not even try, as Nys was a daughter of Dorne. He had still gone ahead and tried to stop Nys, he still remembered her response to all his reasons for her to not join the company.

_"I am Rhaenys Targaryen, Daughter of Elia Nymeros Martell. Nymeros, indicating the line of Nymeria the warrior Queen I will fight side by side with these men and women or else how could I expect them to fight for me, if I can't even fight with them."_

In the end, they couldn't stop her from this. But, that didn't mean he had just let her be, no he was beside her every time she went into battle.

A movement in his field of vision brought him back to the present, as he saw Lady Maege lean forward on the desk. He wondered what she thought about this deal.

Lady Maege was grateful to them for having saved the girls from the Ironborn and for returning her brothers possessions along with Longclaw. The trade deal they proposed was a good one for them as trading with Essos will benefit the island greatly. No one on bear island would have ever thought about trading with Essos and rightfully so since: Bear Island was off the west coast of Westeros in the north, for them to trade with Essos they will have to sail all the way south along the whole length of Westeros and around Dorne. To add to that they will have to go past the Ironislands and risks of being targeted by pirates down south. 

Now, however, the Night's watch proposed that they can transport the goods up to shadow tower, then along the wall to East-Watch-by-the-sea and then from there to Essos. Reducing the distance by hundreds of leagues, as well as reducing the risk of being attacked. In addition to that, what the men from the Night's watch didn't know was that it will make the Bear island more secure from the Ironborns, making sure that an incident like today didn't take place again in the future. 

The thing was that the Ironborn couldn't attack them directly with a big force as that would lead to retributions from the whole north. However, that didn't stop them from harassing the island in small groups. It was a matter of pride, she couldn't complain about this to the other northern Loads. What would it look like if they couldn't even deal with small groups of Ironborns?. The Ironborn are a force to be reconded with on sea, but on land, they were horrible fighters. The men and women of Bear Island could easily defeat them in a head to head fight in the open. The Ironborn knew this, so they try and sneak into the island and they mostly sneaked in through the pier by posing as merchants or other traders. With this trading deal with the Nights Watch, however, she will have greater control on who lands on the island. As she will only have to deal with the members of the Night's Watch instead of traders from different places from the north.

She could even understand why they wanted to keep this a secret from the rest of the North. What she couldn't understand, however. was why was Jon doing this?. He had explained to her that he wanted to help them and all, but she felt like he wasn't telling them everything. 

"I am very much interested in this trade deal, but before I come to a decision I would like to speak to Jon alone along with my daughters." 

After Jace and everyone else had left the solar. Leaving only her, Dacey, Alysane, Lyra and Jon in the room. Jorelle was with Lyanna, they were too young to be involved in these matters yet. Maege turned towards Jon, who was sitting across from them and got straight to the point. 

"Why are you really doing this Jon?" 

" It was not the wildings who killed your brother, my Lady," Jon said. While Lady Maege just raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't believe this myself yet but I saw this with my own eyes. One of the rangers spotted two bodies close to the wall while he was returning from ranging. We ..." Jon carried on to tell them what happened that day and how at night the Lord commander and he were attacked by dead men in the Lords Solar. Jon looked at all the Mormonts and they were just staring at him with disbelief. 

"You can't possibly expect us to believe that," Maege said with a frown on her face.

"Mother, if what he says is true then that would explain the recent increase of wildings coming south and their mumblings about dead men," Dacey said with a thoughtful look. 

What her daughter was saying was indeed true. Around 10 years ago the wildings raids had decreased a lot. Recently, however, they had started to increase again and a lot of them were saying things about dead men rising. 

"Still that isn't enough for me to believe in dead men."

"I know what you mean, my lady. even I don't believe it yet. But, there is 1 more thing I know which will at least make you think of it as a possibility."Jon paused for a bit and then said:

"The North Remembers" now they were all looking at him with confusion. Still, Lady Maege Replied:

"Aye, the north remembers"

"The North Remembers winter," Jon said as he looked at them all. 

Lady Maege and her daughters all froze when he said that. He couldn't know about that could he?. The next words from him left no doubt in her mind that he knew.

"Does house Mormont remember winter?"

"Aye, house Mormont remembers winter and how to survive it"  
she and her daughters said together with an earnest look on their faces. Jon relaxed back into his chair when he heard them say that.

"I thought that Ned won't even know about this. When did your father tell you about this Jon?" Lady Maege asked Jon curiously.

"I don't think Lord Stark knows about this oath. How could my father tell me about this, my lady? after all, I never meet my father." Jon replied calmly. 

'What?' She didn't have time for these word games, especially in this matter.

"Then who told you?!" she almost growled at him.

"My mother told me, and she was told by Lyarra Stark"

"Lyarra Stark? but this is only passed down to fam-" she trailed off, her eyes widening. No this couldn't be, but then it would explain how the honourable Eddard Stark strayed from his marriage bed because he never had. 

'The North Remembers' that was a saying that most people of the north and even some southerners knew. What most of them won't know is the story behind it or its meaning. She remembered her mother telling her and her brother of how when the King of Winter had conquered the whole of the north. He called all his vassal Lords of all the houses, big and small to Winterfell. The first King-In-The-North then told them that their ancestor, Brandon-the-Builder had wanted a united north so, that they would be better prepared when the long night returned. Now that the Starks had managed to unite the whole of the north. The King had them all gather around the heart tree in the Godswood of Winterfell, swear a sacred oath and to pass this down to their children for generations to come.

This was the same oath which Jon had asked them if they remembered. One could only pass this oath down to their children, so only the noble houses and their direct family knew about this oath. 

If Lyarra stark told Jon's mother about this oath then that could only mean one thing.

" You're Lyanna's boy" She whispered with disbelief.

"Aye, I am" Jon was filled with warmth when he heard Lady Maege say that. All those years not knowing who his mother was and then being referred to as his mother's son. 

"Here is a record of her marriage to Prine Rhaegar Targaryens. With Oswell Whent and Arthur Dayne as witnesses." Jon said as he handed Lady Maege a Parchment. 

Lady Maege didn't expect this at all. She didn't know what to think, but it sure did explain a lot of stuff. 

"What is your real name?" one of her daughters asked.

"Jaehaerys Stark Targaryen" Lady Maege smiled when she noticed how he included both his houses names.

"before you'll ask yes, I do want revenge for what happened to my family. However, the realm is at peace at the moment and I don't want to destroy thousands of families just to get revenge for my family. Plus, I would like to protect what I have rather than fight for what I have lost. The north is all that I have and that is why I'm doing this" before any of them could say anything he continued.

"All those years ago when those lords gathered around the heart tree. These were Lords who had waged wars on each other for years and years. Yet, on that day they vowed the most sacred oath there is that, they and their future generations will answer the call and stand shoulder to shoulder with their fellow Northmen to defend the north if it was ever threatened by the long night again. To swear that oath even with their rivalries and hatred towards each other means that they believed that the long night will return. The least we can do all these years later is to at least think of the long night returning as a possibility." 

"I knew your mother, but not that well. The best person to tell you about your mother will be your uncle Benjen. However, I knew your Grandmother well, and let me tell you this Jaehaerys. Lyarra Stark would be proud of you." Lady Maege smiled at him along with her daughters. 

"I agree to this trade deal. Remember Jon, you are a Stark of Winterfell, House Mormont has kept faith with House Stark for thousands of years and will continue to do so." 

* * *

**Castle Back**

The visit to Skagos went better then Jon expected. They did seem a bit threatening and everyone was walking on eggshells for the first few moments. After the Skagosi realised that they weren't being judged or looked down upon, Jon and his men were granted an audience with the Lords and ladies of the noble houses of Crawl, Magner, and Stane. After Jon had explained to them how the trade deal will work. They had not only agreed to it but, had even come up with the suggestion of providing the Nights Watch with seafood or maybe even trading seafood with Essos in the future as they had rich fishing grounds nearby. He was honestly surprised by how welcoming they were to their trade idea. His surprise must have shown on his face, as they went on to explain how far they had come from their raiding days, cannibalism, and their days of practising the first night.

After their last rebellion against house Stark was put down. They had decided to isolate themselves and stay away from the mainland since they were generally despised by the rest of the Northman. Now, however, they had come to realise how their self-isolation had held them back from development. They had tried to get themselves back out there but were struggling to do so after being in isolation for so many years. Now that he had, himself reached out to them with the trade deal, they were going to try and make it work. 

Jon was broken from his thoughts when he heard someone knocking on his door. Jon opened his door to find Uncle Benjen sanding on the other side of the door. 

"Jon, meet me in front of the weirwood trees north of the wall."

That was all Benjen said before turning on his heel and leaving.

Jon just sighed 'I guess there is no escaping it now'.

On his way there he was stopped by Nys, who just told him that something had come up and that she will be gone for a couple of moons. She seemed to be anxious, angry, and in a hurry, so he had asked her if everything was alright. She had told him that she will deal with it in a confident tone of voice.

Jon found Uncle Bnejen just standing in front of the weirwood tree waiting for him. He was about to call out to him when Benjen turned around to face him with an unreadable expression on his face. 

"I heard about this trade deal with Essos that you proposed. I have no problem with the idea of trading with Essos. But, going behind Ned's back Jon?. I hope this is not something you're doing out of your anger towards him." Bnejen noticed how Jon seemed insulted when he said that, so he decided to explain himself. "Sigh. look at that Jon, before you came to the wall I would have never made that assumption about you because I knew you as a person, I was close to you. Since you came to the wall, however, we have drifted apart Jon. Funny how when we used to live leagues away we were still close and now that we are close we have drifted apart."

Jon yes softened when he uncle explained himself. Everything that uncle Benjen said was true and Jon knew that he was the one to blame for that. 

"I know I have distanced myself from you. But after what I learned, I didn't know who to trust." Benjen was looking at him curiously now. Looking around and making sure that they were alone, He took a few steps closer to Bnejen and said in a low voice "Did you know about my mother?"

'so this is what it's about. It could only mean that Jon somehow found out who his mother was.' thought a wide-eyed Benjen.

"Yes and no. I wasn't sure Jon, there were 3 possibilities. First, it could have been Ashara Dayne, I had seen how those two were smitten with each other. I know there were rumours about Brandon being with her. But, Brandon was the one who helped Ned get a dance with her. So, he knew and he would never do that to his brother, no matter what people say about his character. Second, it was a time of war and I have heard stories of how men act during wars and how it changes people, the rebellion lasted for over a year. So, there was a small chance of that. Third, you're my nephew but not from my brothers' side." 

"I was pretty sure that it was the third one, but I couldn't confirm it from Ned. As he wouldn't speak of it when he came back from the rebellion. Which I could understand at the time as Winterfell was full of spies from all over the north or some even from the other kingdoms. All there to see how Ned would handle the responsibilities of being the warden of the North. He couldn't risk your life if it was the third one, Jon. So, I didn't tell you about it as I wasn't completely sure, plus it wasn't my place to tell you."

"It's the third one uncle," Jon said with a small smile."I apologise for distancing myself from you. I didn't know who I could trust when the one who I looked up to, the one constant in my life, and my identity turned out to be a lie." Even while making his way here he had doubts about this, but the acceptance and support from the Mormonts after he revealed his identity to them helped him along. plus, he couldn't run from it anymore he had to have this conversation with Uncle Benjen.

"I figured it out that day on the wall. That look on your face at the end of our conversation. It reminded me of Lya when she would argue with Ned and our father about her betrothal to Robert." 

"She told me that I could depend on the Nohen Wolf?" Jon asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Benjen's eyes became moist hearing that. It had been more than 15 years since the last time someone called him that. Only Lya and Brandon knew about that name. Lya mostly called him that, "Nohen Wolf" that name had a lot of sweet and bitter memories attached to it. 

"Lya used to call me that. She mostly used it when I was happy or sad, She told me of how when I was a babe I would say 'Nohen Wolf' instead of 'Northen Wolf'." Benjen explained to Jon with a faraway look on his face.

"Wait! She told you?!"

"Yes, I mean, She left me a letter." Jon gave a small smile.

"And how did you find out about this?" As far as Benjen knew only two people knew about this, Ned and Howland Reed. 

"I'll try and explain later uncle. First, I want to know more about my Mother." Jon asked eagerly with his voice full of emotion.

* * *

That Night Jon dreamt of living in a mancave and being looked after along with his sister by a human child. While the rest of his brothers and sister were being looked after by different humans in the mancave. Jon later realised that the mancave was Winterfell and the human child was Arya.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for Jon, we won't be seeing him for a few chapters now.
> 
> Next Chapter is Winterfell, and the chapter after that is The War of The Five Kings.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place during the Kings visit to Winterfell.  
> I have not focused on the Kings visit in Winterfell, but the interactions that take place in the background. Hope you all like the chapter.
> 
> Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

**Winterfell (299AC)**

Upon entering the Godswood Ned ran into Old Nan, who was on her way out. "Ah, Ned finally found some time for the Gods?" She said with a toothless smile. He knew she didn't mean it in a bad way, as she knew how busy he was trying to get the castle ready for the Royal visit. 

"Yeah I did, and it's thanks to Cat, She is handling some of it. I'm managing what I can." 

"Don't sell yourself short Ned. Not only now, but ever since you became the Warden of the North you have been doing well. I remember before the rebellion, you said that all you want is a small keep of your own. So that you and your family can live in peace. However, that never came to be, you lost all of your family except Benjen and then you had to step in as the Warden of the North. You led the North from the front during Roberts Rebellion and the Greyjoy Rebellion. The other Lords respect you and would follow you to war again."Old Nan gave him another smile before leaving.

Sitting below the Heart Tree, he looked at the scroll in his hand. It was from Benjen. He had sent a raven to the Wall inviting Benjen to Winterfell for the Kings visit. He wished he could invite Jon as well, but he couldn't as in eyes of the world Jon was a criminal. 

Ned sometimes wondered if he made the right choice that day, all those years ago. He had called Jon to his solar that night to have a word with him before he came to a decision the next day. Eventually, Jon had told him what happened that day and that he knew about his parents. That was the night he had to make the hardest decision in his life so far, He had to choose between family. 

  
Ned knew Jon was innocent, but now he knew about his parents. If he stayed in Winterfell or left, there was always a chance of him telling anyone, which will put his family in danger along with Jon, and Ned had promised his sister that he will protect Jon. However, if he were to send Jon to the wall than Jon won't have any reason to tell anyone about his parents, as Jon won't put his siblings' lives at risk and he would be safe at the wall. Additionally, recently he had noticed how Cat and Arya were drifting apart, as Arya had started to realise how her favourite brother was being treated by her mother and she didn't like it at all. Cat had, of course, noticed this and she blamed it on Jon for corrupting her daughter against her which didn't help the situation at all. In the end, he had chosen his family over his nephew. 

* * *

Dacey Morormont was not one who enjoyed these big lavish feasts. That's why she was just strolling around. She would much rather be back home on Bear Island. Especially when her home was going through a phase of development. Now, almost a year later since when the trade deal was first proposed to them, they were starting to witness the benefits of it. That's how long it had taken them to finally be able to close their shores and stop trading with the rest of the North, which had resulted in quite a few Lords not being happy about this, Especially Lord Galbart Glover. They could have stopped trading earlier, but they wanted to make sure that they could sustain themselves with just the trading deal with Essos through the Night's watch. In addition to that, they couldn't be fully committed towards the deal until they had seen for themselves that not only was there a market for what they were offering, but also that, that market had space to grow.

A few of the benefits of the deal with the Night's Watch were that their tax rates for using their lands to transport goods were considerably less, compared to the taxes they had to pay other lords for using their lands or shores for trade in the past. She and her mother were pretty sure that it was Jon because of whom they were offered such low tax rates. Also, Essos was ahead of Westeros in terms of development which meant they could capitalize on that to help develop their island quickly and efficiently. Finally, the most important and biggest benefit of this deal was that they had cut off the Ironborns main way in which they used to sneak into their island. Not only that but the materials from Essos were helping them better protect their villages and settlements from Ironborn and wildlings. All this helped make their people feel better protected and now they were looking forward to a brighter future for them and their children. 

While continuing on her stroll Dacey came upon the sight of Lady Arya or the she-wolf as her sister, Lyra and mother liked to call her.   
Arya was talking to her Direwolf, Nymeria.

"-m not a Lady, this whole thing is stupid, and no one understands me here. Mother and father have their hands full with the Kings visit. Robb is busy with speaking to all the Lords and Ladies and getting to know them better, as was expected of him as the heir of Eddard Stark. Sansa, before the Kings visit I had thought her stupid, but now it is even worse. Bran is spending most of his time with the crown prince, Tommen. I guess it's because Bran wants to know all about the Kingsguard, especially his hero Ser Barristan The Bold. I like to spend my time with Rickon the most, but he is only Seven name days old and wouldn't understand me." She knew she was loved and she loved all of them, but she just felt left out and alone. 

While Arya was ranting about this, she didn't realise that Nymeria wasn't looking at her anymore but somewhere or at someone else. 

Sigh."I wish Jon was here, he would understand me" she was lost in her thoughts thinking about how things would have been better if he was here.

"You know, you look a lot like your brother when you're broodi- I mean thinking." Finally realising that she wasn't alone anymore, Arya looked in the direction where Nymeria had been staring at all this time. 

"Lady Dacey" She tried to do a curtsy but Lady Dacey just waved it off. 

"No need for any of that" Dacey smiled at her. 

"What did you mean earlier about me looking like my brother? I don't look like Robb." Arya asked with a confused look on her face.

Dacey just chuckled and said: " I wasn't talking about Robb" 

"Then who were yo-" her eyes widen when she realised who Dacey was comparing her to. "Jon! you were talking about Jon." Arya said in a hopeful voice.

"Yes, I was. You two do share quite a resemblance." 

"Do you know him personally?" Arya wanted to find out if Dacey knew her brother or if she had heard this from other people. 

"Aye, I know him well. He is a good lad" Arya was shocked to hear that, as after Jon was sentenced to the wall no one said anything good about him. "He is a Stark of Winterfell and House Mormont stands with him." 

'House Mormont acknowledged him as a Stark?!' but why? how?. The way Dacey said it reminded Arya of The Mormonts house words "Here We Stand". The only connection she could make between Jon and House Mormont was when Jon and a few of the Night's Watch brothers had visited Bear Island over a year ago to deliver their Ancestral Sword, Longclaw, back to them. She knew that from the last time Jon wrote back to her which was some time ago. Only now she knew why it was taking longer for him to write back to her, as only a couple of days ago she had learned from Uncle Benjen that Jon was a Ranger now. Still, she had a lot of questions and was about to ask them when Dacey spoke again.

"I know you will have a lot of questions, so let me tell you now that I won't be able to tell you some things and" Dacey paused and looking around themselves again to make sure they were alone, she even looked at Nymeria to see how she was behaving as she would be the first one to detect if they had any unwanted company, she took some steps closer to Arya before whispering "there maybe somethings I will tell you today that you can't tell anyone and by that I mean not even your father." Arya was about to start firing question when Dacey raised a hand to stop her.

"Know that it is not me who is trusting you with this but Jon. He told me I could trust you. Jon even sent you a little present but before that could we move to a more secluded area?."

At the end of their conversation, Arya was left with more questions than answers and with a small, slender sword along with her brother's advice to "Stick them with the pointy end". 

* * *

"So, what have you found out about this brotherhood?". The brotherhood had been mentioned in Eddard's conversations with most of the Lords and Ladies, who were here for the Kings visit. Normally they will deal with most problems that arise in their lands by themselves. The rest were brought to his attention so that he can have the final say in them. Most of the time when he had to get involved was to resolve disputes between two Lords. This Brotherhood had caught his attention because Lords and Ladies from across the whole of the North had bought it up to him. Ned had asked Maester Luwin to find out more about this brotherhood more than a sennight ago. Knowing that the Maester will have his hands full with the King's visit, Ned had given him enough time to find out about it. 

"They call themselves The Brotherhood of Snows, My Lord. I haven't been able to find out who leads it. I guess that only the higher-ups in the brotherhood will know about it. They only train the smallfolk to defend themselves and to protect their families. As you know some of the smallfolk men already know the basics and more which they have been trained in, so that they can be called on when their Lord calls his banner. The brotherhood not only trains the remaining men, who want to learn, but also the women." Maester Luwin paused for a breather as Ned raised an eyebrow at what he said in the end. 

"They are training smallfolk women as well?"

"Aye, and not only the women, my Lord. They also train girls who are coming of age. In the beginning, only a few women took up arms, but that changed when one of the lords tried to put an end to this by sending his men to attack them while they were training some men in his land. The recently trained men were no match for the lord's men-at-arms. Looking at their people getting killed in front of them the women and girls picked up the fallen swords or whatever they could get their hands on and joined the battle for their village. The village came out on top that day with most of their people committed to the fight. However, they suffered heavy losses. The smallfolk realised that if their women had known even the basics that day, then they wouldn't have suffered such heavy losses. Some believe they only survived that day because of the women's fury at the thought of these men harming their children." 

"When was this and why wasn't I told about it?" Ned was shocked, he had not heard of this, this was something that should have been brought to his attention. 

"This was about 3 years ago and It was not in your lands, m-"

"It was in the North and I'm the Warden of the North!". This happened 3 years ago and he was learning about it now?.   
"Do we know who that Lord is and how did the news of what happened not spread?" 

"No, we don't know who the lord was, my Lord. I guess that the few remaining people of that village might have fled after that day fearing any more attacks. The lord could have easily spread the news that he got rid of the brotherhood and that they were operating from that village. It didn't help that no one heard anything about the brotherhood after that day. More than a year later the brotherhood reappeared and this time they were operating all over the north."

The brotherhood themselves might have asked the people to not spread the word of what happened that day. So, the other lords and ladies will believe that the brotherhood had been dealt with, which will allow them to work in the shadows without anyone looking for them. They must have only let the story of that day spread after they had come out of hiding and had a presence all over the North. That way no Lord was going to attack them as they simply didn't have enough information about them. They knew the brotherhood existed, they were training and helping the smallfolk, and that's it. Other than that they wouldn't have much information about them. They were working with the smallfolk so it would be easy for them to spread false information to throw the Lords and Ladies off track. 

"What do they do once they have finished training the people of that village?. Do they ask them to join the brotherhood?" 

"No, my Lord. They just move on to the next village and the trained men and women go back to their normal lives. There have been no reports of them causing any trouble. It is believed that the members of the brotherhood were all black with a white piece of cloth tied around their arms."

"Since they haven't harmed anyone unless provoked, the Lords and Ladies had no reason to bring this up to me, but now they mentioned the brotherhood because the brotherhood had spread across the North. Keep an eye out for them Maester and keep Robb updated about them. I will tell him about them before going south."

* * *

Benjen was in the Winterfell library while another big feast was thrown for the King in the main hall. He had noticed or been told about the changes that had occurred in the Night's watch since Alliser Thorne became the Lord Commander about a year ago.   
  
For one, in the beginning, the Night's watch had started sending out fewer ravens to the Houses of the realm asking for more men and food. Now, they hardly sent out any ravens asking for any assistance. He could understand that for the food since most of their food came from Essos now. Their trading deal with Essos was going very well, it proved very beneficial not only for the Night's watch but also for Bear Island and Skagos, and it was growing as the demand for their trading goods was growing in Essos. What he couldn't understand, however, was their reasons for not asking for any more men. The wondering Crow, Yoren, was also replaced by a man of Allisers choice. When compared to Yoren, this man was away from the Night's watch for longer periods and would return with very few recruits. 

Secondly, almost all of the vicious criminals that were sentenced to the wall had 'disappeared' beyond the wall. The rest of the men who were sentenced to the wall were mostly transferred to East-Watch-By-The-Sea. Most of the men at castle back now were new faces to him. He found it strange how well they got along with each other as if they had all known each other for years. Even stranger was how well even the Lord Commander got along with them, especially with that Jace guy.

The Third and also the reason why he was in the library now was because of how Maester Aemon was mostly in the company of Jace or Nys. He knew that Jon and Nys were close friends, he had seen how at ease and carefree he was around Nys. He had held off telling Jon about Maester Aemon being a Targaryen as he wanted to find out who these people with purple and Indigo eyes were, that Maester Aemon was keeping close to himself. As far as he knew only the people of houses Targaryen, Velaryon and Dayne had eyes of that colour. Recently he had heard that people in Lys shared those features as well. 

"Uncle Ben?" 

Benjen turned around to find little Rickon standing at the door. 

"Rickon? what are you doing here and who brought you here?"

"I came on my own an-" he was interrupted by someone growling. 

"Shaggydog helped me" and sure enough Shaggydog was right beside him. How had he not spotted him earlier? 

"so, what are you doing here?" 

"I wanted to ask you something"

Benjen just raised an eyebrow and nodded at him to continue. that was followed by a moment of silence. He finally realised what was happening and just chuckled and said: "and what did you want to ask me?"

"I-i wanted to ask you about...Jo-Jon" Rickon asked nervously while shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He didn't know what to expect, whenever he asked his mother, she would always get angry and tell him that Jon was a bad guy, who was sent away. But, when he asked his sister, Arya, she would give him that big smile, but sometimes she also got sad and smiled a small smile. Arya would then tell him all about her favourite brother. All he remembered was that once he had another big brother, who looked like his father, and who used to play with him. 

He wanted to believe Arya in this because he liked her the most. She was fun, would play with him, and would even let him run around and be free even tough his clothes got dirty. His mother, however, always told him how he should behave and act around people. Now she wouldn't even let him go out and play with the other children around Winterfell. She told him to be something that he wasn't, he wanted to be free and run around with the other children, but he could only do that when it was only him and Arya. His elder sister, Sansa, was like his mother and didn't allow him to be free either. He didn't like being told what to do all the time and liked being free. Rickon remembered his father saying that it was because the wolfs blood was strong in him, but that didn't make sense to him, he wasn't a wolf or a direwolf like Shaggydog. 

"go on son, what do you want to know about him?" Benjen smiled at him. 

Rickon was relieved when uncle Benjen smiled at him. He wanted to ask Uncle Benjen about this because Arya told him that Jon lived with Uncle Benjen. "is he a bad guy?" 

"No, no he isn't." 

"then why was he sent away?" Benjen frowned trying to think of a way to answer that. 

"I don't know how to explain it to you son" Looking at Rickon's reaction to that, he went on to say: "But, what I do know is that he is a part of our pack, he loves you like a brother and will be there for you if you're ever in need of him. Also, he has Ghost with him, just like how you have Shaggydog here with you." Speaking about Ghost, Jon had taken Ghost along with him on a ranging this time. 

Rickon was sad when Uncle Benjen said he didn't know how to explain it to him, but then it was better than being told that he was a kid and won't understand it, which he had heard a lot of times from everyone. What his uncle had said next though had made him feel a lot better. 

* * *

**Somewhere in the North**

Around 30 dead people lay dead on the floor with their blood still flowing out of their stab wounds and turning the snow red. Most of the dead men were dressed in all black with a piece of white cloth wrapped around their arms. The rest of the dead men had a flayed men sigil on their chests. There were Bolton men still in the area, helping any of their wounded.

He knew he wouldn't make it out alive. He had lost too much blood. Lifting his head from the ground and looking up ahead of him, he saw him, Ramsay Snow. He had heard about this monster and he had even heard that he killed his own mother. Just before closing his eyes forever, he saw that Ramsay was joined by someone else, someone who was dressed in all black with a piece of white cloth wrapped around his arm. The last word that left his mouth was "T-Tr-Traitor" 

Ramsay chuckled darkly and said, "Yes, Yes I will succeed where my father had failed years ago".


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter is set during the war of the five kings and takes place around 2 years after the last chapter.
> 
> Not sure how this chapter will be received, but here it goes.

**Dorne (301AC)**

'What is the purpose of his visit here today?' Prince Doran thought while looking at the man sitting across him. Lord Adric Dayne had requested to have a word in private with him and Oberyn. 

The Daynes had been quiet and grieving the loss of Ser Arthur and Ashara after Roberts rebellion. As the years went by, Doran realised that they had been a bit too quiet. The Last time Lord Adric had graced them with his presence was 2 years ago when he had proposed a trading deal with a new Essosi trading company. Dorne already traded with Essos of course, but this was a peculiar trading deal. Lord Adric proposed that this company wanted to trade firewood in exchange for glass from Dorne. Dorne got most of its firewood from The Reach and Stormlands. The firewood in Essos would have most likely come from Westeros, so why would Dorne want to trade with this company across the sea when they could get the same firewood from their neighbouring Kingdoms. Despite all of this Dorne had agreed to the deal mainly because it was backed by Lord Dayne and the trading companies suspiciously low rates. Some moons after that Doran had learned something interesting, the Essosi trading company got their firewood from the North. 

* * *

**North**

They had successfully abandoned Moat Cailian in the cover of darkness and were now on their way to Torrhen's square. Branda knew that it would have been much more difficult to leave Moat Cailin with the ironborn camped right outside it had it not been for the Crannogmen. 

Victarion Greyjoy had led the Iron fleet up the Fever river intending to take Moat Cailin. However, his fleet had been harassed by the Crannogmen throughout the journey. The Crannogmens poisoned arrows had weakened and slowed down the ironborn, which had, in turn, allowed the Brotherhood group led by Branda to occupy Moat Cailin and lie in wait for them. Moat Cailin was said to be impenetrable from the south, but the same couldn't be said if it was attacked from the north. Their brotherhood group had held Moat Cailin for 2 sennights, during which time the ironborn were attacked by the brotherhood from the castle and by the Crannogmen using guerilla tactics. The people of the seven kingdoms may look down on these tactics, but she wasn't one to give a fuck about what others thought as long as it got the job done and that there were fewer casualties on her side. 

Branda hated to be kept in the dark. All she had been told was to try and work with the Crannogmen to weaken the ironborn. While at Moat Cailin she believed that her group along with the Crannogmen could have taken out the ironborn, but then she had been told to abandon Moat Cailin and let the ironborn have it. Branda hadn't been given any reason why she should do that, but she knew that the leader and his little group will have a good enough reason. Well, that was what she told everyone else. Of course, she knew the reason, she was in their leader's little group after all. She had joined the brotherhood 5 years ago, but she told people that she joined it when it re-emerged 2 years ago. Branda knew that lying to the people was for their own safety as their brotherhood had been betrayed many times already. 

The Northern army of around 20,000 was fighting a war in the Riverlands. The ironborn and many others may think the North as defenceless at the moment, but that was far from the truth. Given enough time the North could raise an army of around 40,000. Also, that was excluding all the womenfolk the brotherhood had trained over the years. The brotherhood had more than enough men and women ready to defend the North, their home, against the ironborn invasion.

* * *

**Deepwood Motte**

"Did you find anyone?" Yara asked hoping for a different answer this time. 

"No, it was another abandoned village, just like the rest". She didn't like this. What concerned her, was that the villages and small settlements around the castle had been abandoned. What was even weirder was that the people had just left their homes and left everything of value back. Normally people would carry whatever they could with them, that was not the case here it was as if the people expected to come back to their homes and find everything as it was. If she had some smallfolk hostages then she could have threatened to torture them if the Glovers didn't surrender. That was the reason why she had sent some men deeper inland, only for them to never return. 

Regardless of that, They had Deepwood Motte under siege for more than 3 sennight's now. Yara had around a thousand ironborn with her, She had left around 100 men back on the shore with the boats, which was around 15 miles North from the castle. They will be able to capture the castle soon, it was not a particularly strong castle. The castle sat on the top of a hill, it was defended by a ditch, earthen dike halfway up the hill, and a palisade of logs at the bottom of the hill. They had managed to get past the Palisade of logs and even the earthen dike. Yara and her army of ironborn were preparing for the final assault of the castle itself. They left some men to guard both the defences while most of the ironborn were camped at a distance from the hill, to avoid any arrows the glovers might rain on them from the castle above. 

  
Yara and the rest of the ironborn stopped whatever they were doing when they heard shouts and battle cries coming from the northern direction. Looking in the direction Yara saw a group of ironborn running towards them and following them was an even bigger group of Northmen and women, Leading the Northern group was a short, grey-haired woman wielding a spiked mace. Yara saw the banner of a black bear in the green woods, 'House Mormont', she thought with gritted teeth. She noticed how the first line of ironborn running towards them was quite a bit ahead of the second line of ironborn. Soon that first line of ironborn was no more, A hail of arrows being rained down on them made sure of that. Normally, anyone else will be shouting orders to get a line of defence ready for the oncoming assault, But they were ironborn she drew her weapon and shouted "What is Dead", she paused and then said together with the rest of the ironborn while charging ahead "may never die".

They charged passed the ironborn running towards them to clash against the Bear islanders. In a few moments, Yara was getting frustrated with all this armour her enemies were wearing. Since when did the bear islanders get so well armoured?. Screams from the back of their group made her look in that direction and to her horror, her own men were attacking each other at the back. 

* * *

After having learned from the scouts that the ironborn were preparing for the final assault, Raff knew the time had come. This was what they were waiting for. The brotherhoods plan was simple, they will wait for the ironborn to overcome both the defences of Deepwood Motte. When the ironborn led the attack on the castle itself, the brotherhood group of 2000 men and women will launch their attack. They hoped to trap the ironborn between the castle and the earthen dike, halfway up the hill, and then attack the ironborn from the castle above and the brotherhood below or if the Ironnorn proved to be too much for them, then they will retreat to the bottom of the hill and camp there, ready to starve the traped ironborn to death. Roff knew that they had the numbers, but these men and women, including himself, were inexperienced in terms of conflicts on this scale. 

  
Raff had moved his group closer to the ironborn. They were hiding in the woods to the west of the ironborn camp when they saw the Bear Islanders group charging towards the ironborn. 

"Shouldn't we join our fellow Northerners against the ironborn?"Someone from his group asked, some people nodded and agreed with him, while the rest of them were too nervous to answer. 

He wanted to join his fellow northerners as well, but the problem was that if they were to show themselves now the chances were that the ironborn will rout and flee to the east and more inland. That would put the villages and other settlements they had not evacuated right in their path. He was distracted from his thoughts when someone pointed out what was happening at the back of the ironborn group. 

'Why were the ironborn attacking each other?' after some time he could see that some men were forming small circles at the back of the ironborn group and attacking their fellow ironborn while looking out for the men in their circle. Raff focused on one such small circle of men and marvelled at how well they were working together like a well-oiled machine, they were looking out for each other while the confused ironborn around them were fighting only for themselves. As he looked at the battle ahead of him he realised that these were experienced, battle-hardened men and women. Raff had heard of the She-Bear and the fierce women of Bear island, but to witness them fighting first hand was something else. He could only guess how inspiring this is for the women in his group. 

The whole brotherhood group watched in stunned silence, how easily the Northern group were cutting down the ironborn. When the squids realised that the battle was lost they started fleeing to towards the east and west. While his group will easily be able to handle the ironborn running towards them, Raff was worried about the ones fleeing east and more inland. In the end, he didn't have to worry as the northern group blew a war horn and moments later a group of men and women emerged from the eastern side to cut off the ironborn trying to escape. 

* * *

He was just a commoner. Even though he had started training in swordsmanship at a young age, he wasn't good at it. So he had trained even harder which helped him improve over time, but there was always someone better than him and he had his weaknesses. As he grew up he learned that no one was perfect and neither was he. That still didn't stop him as he wanted to do better so that he will be able to protect his mother and younger siblings. Although, that wasn't always the reason as in the beginning he was doing it for his personal glory, that changed when his father passed and had asked him to look after his mother and siblings. That was what pushed him on further, so he trained and trained. As the years passed his hard work had paid off as he was a good swordsman and well known among his people. 

What was all of that for though? 

What was it worth anything when on that day on the trident, no matter how good of a swordsman he was he couldn't fight off all the men surrounding him and was too late to save his brothers. 

what was the point of being a great swordsman if he couldn't even save his brothers?

If only he had trained with his brothers and focused on them working together, watching each other's backs instead of focusing on his own strength and trying to protect them all by himself. 

Maybe then his brothers would still be alive and standing beside him today. 

Now here he was in the North, commanding his men, who were dressed as Ironborn to finish off any remaining Ironborns. 

Initially, after the war, he had stayed back on Dragonstone, but only after a few days, he couldn't stand the Baratheon banners. Every time he looked at them he was reminded of that day on the trident with those Baratheon banners flying ahead of them and his brothers falling. Hearing about some people leaving and settling in Essos he had decided to move away from the place he grew up with along with his brothers as it reminded him too much of what he had lost. 

In Essos, he had concentrated all his efforts to build a group which would fight together as one and look out for each other instead of fighting for their own glory. There he had risen in rank and even though he didn't have any big family name, he was given command of his own unit and the Velaryons helped him along with it. 

After fighting battles for more than a few years, when they were told that some of them will be moving north and settling there. like the others, he also had many questions at that time, but in his case, he had accepted the opportunity to get away from all those battles. 

Now he was helping defend the North from the Ironborns. 

Living in the North had been a blessing to him. If one overlooked the cold and all the challenges living in the North presents, it was a great place for someone like him, who had mostly lived in a busy town next to the pier on Dragonstone and then in Essos. He really appreciated the solitude and the peaceful setting the north offered.it was away from the politics and everything and were left on their own, living a simple life.

When he had first moved north, he had thought that he was ready to just leave the fighting and battlefield behind him and just live the rest of his life in peace. However, after a while of living in the north, he had started missing the atmosphere and the adrenaline rush that he experienced on the battlefield, fighting for his life. Which had led him to move back in Essos and rejoining the company while visiting the north from time to time for a break from it all. He had been training and fighting for most of his life, so he couldn't live without it, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy some quiet peaceful times. 

He like many others in the company had wondered what could have caused Lord Jace and his brother to move to Essos and then for Lord Jacaerys to move North. There will be many reasons why people didn't raise the questions. He knew that loyalty was one of them amongst others. 

He wasn't overly Loyal to either House Velaryon or Targaryen, He had no interest what so ever in the games the big houses played. For him and some others, all that mattered was that they weren't told to do anything against their will, they were always given the choice or warned of what was to come so that they could back out. The Velaryons understood and respected this, which was why The Velaryons had revealed something to them a couple of years ago. Something which answered most of the questions their people had but had never demanded answers from the Velaryons. 

Lord Jacaerys had revealed to them that Nys, who had fought and bled with them on the battlefield while serving in the company was, in fact, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen.

Looking at the group of Northerners emerging from the west, with Lady Lyra Mormont also making her way towards them followed by a few of her men. He decided to make his way towards them as well, on his way there he was joined by some of his men. 

With most of the men and women from the Bear Islanders fighting a war in the Riverlands, The Mormonts had sent word to them asking for assistance in defending the North, once their ships had spotted the Ironborn longships heading north. Even though the Bear islanders had a presence in the sea now with a few Galleys. They had refrained from attacking the Ironborn longships and instead fought the battle on land, in the conditions to their advantage. 

Lord Velaryon and his family along with Princess Rhaenys were in Essos during this time so it had been up to them to decide whether to come to the norths aid or not. They had decided that they will help defend it from the Ironborn, The North was appreciated a lot more now compared to before. 

They had sailed to bear island with haste, but they hadn't worry themselves as the bear islanders had successfully defended their home from the Ironborns. He had heard about the Bear island and knew they were poor, at least that was what he had thought before. He came upon the island which was defended from all sides. He had noticed that the Mormonts still lived in their small wooden keep, instead of building a grand castle for themselves they had deciding to use all the resources from the trade to make sure that the whole island was well defended. They were well off now in terms of armour and weapons for their men and women, because of which a few lives would have been saved today. 

Walking past the bead Ironborn on the floor, he thought about their plan, which had worked well. Having sent a few Ironborn in front, who were then followed by his group disguised as Ironborn and they were followed by the northern group. After the ironborn had been shot down, they had carried on to the back of the oncoming Ironborn group. Once the 2 groups had clashed against each other, he and his unit had started attacking the Ironborn at the back of their group causing confusion and chaos for the Ironborn. 

Lady Lyra had already reached the Nothern group, he was close enough to hear their conversation as he approached them. 

"The Brotherhood of Snows" Lady Lyra addressed the group.

"My Lady" the young man who was leading the group bowed deeply, before continuing " on behalf of all us and the rest of the smallfolk, we would like to thank House Mormont for coming to our aid" the rest of the men and women noded along and bowed.

The Brotherhood group looked towards him, Once he along with a few of his men reached the two groups. Their eyes narrowed when they realised that neither he or his men were from the North.

"Commander Lee, He and his group were in the depth of the battle, they helped us end this battle quickly with minimal casualties, They are allies of House Mormont." Lady Lyra Introduced him and his group to the brotherhood. 

Lee could still see the distrust in the brotherhoods eyes towards his group, but they had still noded at his group and professed their gratitude for their aid. 

Sybelle Glover, watched from Deepwood Motte above as the men and women approached with the House Mormont banner waving in the air. She knew that the head of house Glover, Galbart Glover had some issues with House Mormont. Her Husband, Robett Glover, had told her that it all started when the House Mormont had closed their shores to trading, all those years ago. She smiled and thanked the old Gods, for when they were most in need, House Mormont had come to their aid. 

* * *

**Somewhere In the North**

With his sister, Yara, raiding the Norths western shores, Dagmer Cleftjaw laying siege to Torrhen's Square, and his uncle on his way to capture Moat Cailin. Theon knew that there was a high chance that Bran will ask Ser Rodrik Cassel to raise the Winterfell levies to try and defend the North. This would lead to the Winterfell being minimally defended. He had planned to use this as a distraction and move inland with around 30 Ironborn to capture Winterfell by surprise.   
  
After having lived in Winterfell for all those years, Theon knew the wall which had the least amount of guards around it and was possible to scale over the cover of darkness. He had it all planned out in his head on the way to Winterfell. He was excited and eagerly looking forward to it.

Now, he was enraged and raging against everything, as he never got to put his plans into action as they were ambushed by a group of northerners on their way to Winterfell. He had no clue who they were, He had however noticed that they were all wearing black with a white piece of cloth tied around their arm. Most of his men had been gravely injured or dead now. He along with 2 men were now on their way to Moat Cailin to join his Uncle and his men there. 

Not all was lost though as thinking about what he was about to do once reaching Moat Cailin, made him feel better. His uncle would have conquered Moat Cailin by the time they got there, as soon as he reached there he would start spreading the false story of how he burned down Winterfell along with everyone in it. That news will soon spread south of the neck and throughout the other kingdoms. He knew there was always a chance of Robb sending a raven North to confirm the story, but he would still cause the Starks despair and heartbreak while they waited for any reply from the North. 

What Theon didn't know was that Winterfell was under siege, It was surrounded by men with the sigil and the banners of a flayed man, they made sure that no news got in or out of Winterfell. 

* * *

**Riverlands**

Adam just wanted this war to be over so that he could return home to his wife and son. His wife was pregnant when he had left for war and now he couldn't wait to return home to hold his newborn son in his arms.

He was accompanying the Mountain and his men, along with Vargo Hoat and most of his mercenary company, The Brave Companions to Maidenpool. They had left a few of the mercenaries at Harenhall. Before leaving for the capital with his host, Lord Tywin's orders had been clear. With the Northern army gaining more land in the Riverlands, He wanted to destabilize the Riverlands further. In addition to that since the war started House Mooton had not made any move or came to the aid of their liege lord, but now they had been carrying out raids and using hit and run tactics against their camps. Adam guessed that was because of their increased confidence with the Northern army gaining more and more ground in the Riverlands, with the Young Wolf yet to lose a battle. 

Maidenpool, the seat of House Mooton, is one of the main ports and trade centers of the Bay of Crabs. House Mooton is far wealthier than their overlord of House Tully, even after years of paying heavy taxes for siding with Aerys II Targaryen against their Liege Lord, Hoster Tully, during Roberts Rebellion. Lord William Mooton was known as a cowardly and timid man. However, Lord Tywin had his doubts and had warned him not to underestimate Lord Mooton, Especially since they had they could have easily hired a sellsword company from across the sea to defend themselves.

Looking ahead of him he could now see the river and the bridge over it. Maidenpool laid about 3 miles past that river. Adam frowned looking at the eager expressions of his travelling companions. He held no love for these men, He didn't approve to what the Mountains men and the Brave companions had done in the Riverlands. 

As they neared the bridge, they spotted a group of armoured men waiting for them on the other side of the bridge. Looking at them they didn't seem all that impressive, he knew that the Mountain, Vargo Hoat, and their men would cut through easily. Adam understood that the men across from them were fighting for their homes and he respected them for it. He didn't enjoy destroying other peoples homes and lives, he would much rather be back home with his family, But, this was war.

Looking around at his companions, he could see that they were hungry for blood and ready to charge in. However, he could see what they couldn't. The river was wide and deep, with no other bridge for a few miles, so they will have to go across the bridge and take the fight to their opponents. The problem with that was that it was a narrow bridge which would only allow a couple of men to pass through at a time. On top of that, these were not men he could order around to tell them on how best to proceed during a battle, they wouldn't know how to keep formation and advance. They will most likely just charge in recklessly. Secondly, his companions had pushed themselves to get here as quickly as possible, whatever the reason for their eagerness, what they failed to notice now was that they may be ready to charge but their tired horses sure weren't. Finally, He could see that the opponents in front of them could be dealt with by their group, but what about what he couldn't see? This could be a trap with their opponents having men in hiding, ready to join once the battle began and they would be in no position to successfully fight back or retreat.

This was the reason he was sent along so that he could assess the situation and decide on the best path for them to take to make sure they succeeded. Fortunately, for them, there was a hill on their side, where they could set camp on the hill to have the advantage of higher ground. The river was to the East of the hill, there were some woods to the west, and the north and south were open fields. 

The next morning Adam woke up to the sound of war drums, hundreds of swords and spears being banged against shields and an unearthly screech. 

His tent was momentarily cast in darkness from something huge flying over their camp. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I was not supposed to spend so long at the battle of Deepwood Motte, But commander Lee, he just wrote himself.


	9. Chapter 9

**Riverlands (301 AC)**

**Lord Mooton-The 'Timid and Cowardly Man'**

Lord William Mooton was on the front lines. Something which people would have laughed at a few sennights ago. He was known as a timid and cowardly man, something which was far from the truth. He was more like his late brother, Ser Myles Mooton, who was slain by Robert Baratheon during the Battle of the Bells. He had decided to drop his act and to lead his men from the front when the Lannisters had tried to raid his lands. 

Even now he could catch a few of his men, as they did a double-take on him, actually being there with them to lead them into battle and not hiding behind his walls. 

The Young Wolf was doing well in the war so far and he meant well for the Riverlands, He had House Darry to thank for that information. 

The Northern army was in the Riverlands, however, they were camped at Riverrun, while Lord Tywins army camped at Harenhall. So the Lannister Army was camped between his lands and the Northern Army. 

Which was the reason why he had sent men across the sea to hire a sellsword company from Essos. A sennight later, however, A sellsword company was already on his shores even before his men could make it to Essos. He was baffled even more when he learned that this was not just any company, but one of the deadliest, which had risen over the years to be on par with the Golden company. 

Lord William didn't know what to make of this at first, but then the flagship had hoisted the banners of Houses Velaryon and Celtigar, followed by the banner of a three-headed dragon.

Not long after that, he found himself standing in front of a group of people which also included Lord Lucerys Velaryon and Lady Ashara Dayne, Both of whom the world believed had died after Roberts Rebellion. 

Lord Lucerys spoke fondly of his late brother, Ser Myles Mooton. Lord Lucerys knew him from his time serving as the master of ships. As Myles had squired for the Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and had received his knighthood from Rhaegar himself. Ser Myles had been one of Rhaegars few close companions. 

He had been told that they had left most of the company back in Essos and the men that they had brought across the sea were only aa a precaution. 

That had left him confused until the princess and her companion had made their entrance. 

* * *

**The Prince of Dorne**

Oberyn had travelled here with Lord Adric Dayne and his heir Edric Dayne, along with a few men while keeping a low profile. His brother had his reservations about this, and to be honest, even he had his reservations. But then Lord Adric's words of the Mountain and Revenge kept going around in his mind. 

After reaching Maidenpool, he had accompanied the Daynes to an inn. Where Lord Adric had approached a man, who had then led them into a room. Lord Adric had entered the room first. Soon after that, he heard someone shout "Uncle Adric" followed by footsteps towards them. 

As Oberyn and Edric entered the room they saw that Lord Adric was embracing a boy. Soon the boy broke the hug and was about to ask something when he spotted them. 

Oberyn narrowed his eyes when he got a good look at the boy. The boy had dark hair and purple eyes. Now, Oberyn had seen enough people with purple eyes from his visits to Lys. What got his attention here were the boy's Dornish features and the way he referred to Lord Adric. 

Oberyn's eyes were fixed on the boy when he heard a familiar voice, one he hadn't heard for years, one he thought he would never hear again. The voice of a friend, The voice of a person who was very close to his sister. 

"Brother, it's good to see you. I hope your journey here was uneventful." 

Breaking the staring contest with the boy. Oberyn moved his eyes in the direction of the voice and sure enough, Ashara Dayne was making her way towards her brother with a gentle smile on her face. 

They hadn't told him the whole story yet. He would find out soon enough, but at the moment standing below the hill looking at the mountain. All he could think about was revenge and the different ways in which he was going to make the mountain suffer. 

He wanted to attack, the mountain was right there, however, he was told to wait and that It was not his revenge to take but rest assured justice will be delivered today.

* * *

**Adam**

It was a damp and cloudy morning, with thunder and lightning, they would hear the screech once in a while from a different direction every time. 

It was as if a predator was circling its prey.

The shadow over his tent this morning was still on the back of his mind and he didn't even want to imagine what could be making that inhuman sound above them. Adam had enough things to worry about at the moment, Things like the army surrounding them to the north and south of the hill. With the river to their east and the woods to the west. The woods in which he was pretty sure their opponents would have had their men there as well.

They had been at a stalemate for hours now, he didn't have a good feeling about this. Still, he was thinking about what the best course of action for them would be. In the beginning, he had held back his forces as he was waiting for the enemy forces to start marching uphill, once they were on uneven ground he would have ordered his whole group to charge down the hill in the southern direction. With their higher ground advantage, the Mountain leading their men, and the time it would take for the enemy forces to the north to go over or around the hill to come to their southern group's aid. They would have been able to break through the enemy forces to the south and escape to fight this battle some other day and time of their choosing. But, none of that happened as the enemy forces had made no move whatsoever. 

After having been at a stalemate for hours and with their concern regarding food, they had decided that they will wait no longer, they had all prepared to charge downhill, with the mountain and Vargo Hoat leading their respective men. Before they could make any move, however, They heard an ear-deafening screech which was then followed by a war horn being sounded.

Finally, they saw some movement in the enemy group below. But, it was not what they were expecting. As another banner was raised beside the house Mooton banner. It was a banner he didn't recognise, most of the bottom half of the banner was grey/whitish, there was a small flame at the centre of the banner on a black background. He heard gasps and even heard some mutterings of 'Ashes' from the brave companions. 

He could see that the brave companions were nervous and agitated. Adam had caught some of the brave companion's men and even their leader, Vargo Hoat casting fearful glances at the sky every once in a while. He wanted to know what this was about and was about to call out to Vargo Hoat when he saw three more banners being raised. 

A banner of a white sword and falling star crossed on lilac. 

'House Dayne? Had the Dornish joined the war?'

He frowned further when he saw the banner of a Silver Seahorse on Sea green and the banner of the Red crabs strewn on white. These were the banners of House Velaryon and Celtigar, respectively.

Before he could try and make any sense of what was going on, a banner of a Red Three-Headed Dragon on black was raised. 

Adam heard gasps from the men around him, at first he thought it was because of the banners, however, that wasn't the case as the men were looking and pointing towards the sky. Looking up towards the sky he couldn't see anything at first, but then something crossed his vision, he unsuccessfully tried to follow it through all the clouds. Soon he managed to find it and lose it yet again. This happened a few times and every time it kept on getting bigger and filling more of his vision. Adam could make out more things about it, As it kept on circling lower and lower towards them. Things he wouldn't have believed in if he wasn't looking at it with his own eyes. 

Things like how it was something that he had only heard stories about, although there had been rumours about the exiled Targaryen bringing dragons back into the world. But, these were recent rumours only a few months old. 

'Dragons couldn't grow up so fast, could they?'

The Dragon let out a mighty roar as it circled them one last time before disappearing again. 

The horses were agitated when the dragon reappeared and circled around them. So when the dragon started breathing fire and trapping them in a ring of fire there was chaos everywhere with the horses trying to get away and dumping into each other since they were so close to each other. As if that wasn't enough some of the men had started fleeing towards the woods in the west. 

Adam turned towards the mountain and Vargo Hoat to ask them to get their respective men in order. Looking in their direction, however, he could only watch in horror as the mountain was cutting down their own men, to try and get away from this. Vargo Hoat was no different, but he was less successful in making his way through the men. 

The mountain had made it through the shield of horse and men, he was making his way to the woods, but the dragon had beaten him to it. The dragon landed in front of the woods blocking their way and roared. 

The impact of the dragon landing shook the earth around it resulting in the some of the horses fleeing on uneven ground to lose their balance and go down along with their riders. 

The mountain that rides was one of the riders who went down along with his horse. He was not surprised to see that, since the courser was already panicked because of the dragon, running on uneven ground while carrying the weight of not only the mountain but also of all the armour the mountain had on.

Maybe it was because of the unexpected events or the chaos or maybe just because the dragon was below them now for the first time that Adam noticed that there was a dragon-rider. The dragon-rider was looking in the direction of where the mountain was trying to get back to his feet.

As if sensing that its rider was looking at someone specific, the dragon also moved his head closer and focused all his attention on the mountain, who had just managed to get back to his feet now. 

Adam spotted some men who tried to take advantage of this situation by giving the dragon a wide berth, while slowly making their way towards the woods. 

As they neared the woods, however, more men came out of the woods and charge the Lannister and the brave companions men. They were shown no mercy even when some of them had thrown down their arms and surrendered. 

The dragons screech brought Adams attention back to the dragon, its rider and the mountain standing before them. In the next instant, the dragon let loose hell itself on the mountain. 

The mountain wore heavy armour from head to toe to protect him. But today as he was burned alive, that same armour was acting like a furnace. 

Adam had heard of people being burned alive, but to actually see someone being burned alive in front of him was horrible and with the wind blowing in their direction they were breathing in the smell of burned flesh.

Some of their men and even some of the men on the opponent's side below the hill turned their eyes away from the scene of the mountain being burned alive, but, the dragon rider nor the dragon took their gaze off the burning men for even a second. They were watching him with rapt attention. 

He was about to turn his eyes away when he saw the dragon lowering his wing, allowing the dragon-rider to disembark.

The Dragonrider now stood in front of the mountain with what looked like a spear in their hand. In the next instant, the dragon rider threw the spear straight at the burning mountain of a man. Thanks to the dragon fire melting the armour along with the skin almost half the spear went through the mountain and came out the other side.

The scene before him reminded Oberyn of his house sigil of a Gold spear piercing a red sun on an orange field. 

Looking at the fate of some of their men and the mountain being burned alive in front of them made Adam and his men lose any hope they had of escaping alive from here today.

Lord Mooton watched as Princess Rhaenys brought down 'Fire and Blood' on their enemies. 

He was still in awe of the dragon, it was black with golden scales. The dragon was big but not overly so. Which in this case worked in favour of the dragon as that gave the dragon the ability to set a path of fire in the ranks of the men on the hill and then to turn back swiftly to continue the rain of terror. 

Any men who had managed to escape the rage of the dragon by running down the hill in any direction were cut down without mercy by his men. These Lannister and Brave companions men had raided and pillaged the Riverlands for months now, they will find no mercy here today. 

Adam thought about his newborn son and wife one last time before closing his eyes forever. 

* * *

**Princess**

She didn't know why, but she was thinking about him now. She wished Jon was here beside her today.

Jon had Gone missing beyond the wall over 3 years ago. He was accompanied by Sam on his ranging. A few weeks later sam had returned on Jons horse with arrows all over his body and not breathing. 

The men at the wall believed Jon to be dead, the men who he had trained or helped in any way only had good things to say about him.

She, however, knew he was alive. She couldn't explain how she knew but she just did. she could still feel that connection she had with him. 

"Are you okay? princess?" Lord Lucerys Velaryon asked Rhaenys as she had been awfully quiet and was just staring at nothing at the moment. It was only him, The princess and Ashara Dayne in the room. 

"I.. I don't know. I have rained fire down before, but today was the first time I did that with the intention of killing all the men below, plus the scale and the consequences here were different. Ridding Meraxes has always given me a sense of freedom and ridding him into battle today, it gave me that rush making me feel powerful. However, I also got to witness what no one else could. I saw all those men being burnt alive, some men who were in the middle of the group and on fire were rolling on the ground trying to put out the fire with no place to go. These men were then stomped to death by their own horses in the chaos. Hundreds of men died today but it was something which had to be done." sigh. "Anyways, so when can we start heading North?"

"Heading North?"

"Yes, the wildings are attacking more frequently, but they don't fully commit to these attacks it's as if they are testing our defences and we have reasons to believe that they have all united and are going to launch a big attack on the wall soon. We have been living in the north for years now, it is because of the vastness of the North that has helped keep Meraxes a secret from the world so far." Speaking of which even after what happened today. Meraxes will remain a mystery to the people of Westeros. As no one will be able to confirm his existence and they will make sure to spread all sorts of rumours of what happened here today. 

Lord Lucerys took his leave after speaking with the princess for a few more moments, leaving only Ashara and Rhaenys in the room. 

"Aunty Ashara, can I ask you something?" Rhaenys said when Ashara walked up to her and stood beside her. 

"Of course, Rhae, go on" Ashara turned sideways so they were both facing each other now. 

"What can you tell me about the relationship between my mother, father and ma- Lady Lyanna?" Rhae asked while moving her eyes all over the place but not looking at Ashara in the eyes. it was something she did when she was nervous, which she usually isn't.

"Lady Lyanna? I don't know what you're talking about Rhae. I did see Lady Lyanna at the tourney of Harenhall, But your mother never brought her up and I was dismissed as her lady in waiting soon after the tourney of Harenhall." 

"This is something very close to me. I only remember a few moments with my mother and this is one of them. I remember this lady with brown hair and mother introducing her to me as ma- mama Lya" 

Rhae vaguely remembered her mother's joyous laughter after that and that funny look on mama Lya. Rhae smiled thinking about that cherished memory as a tear slipped down her eye. 

* * *

Aboard the ship heading North, Rhaenys suddenly started feeling hollow as if she was missing something as if she had lost someone.

An image of a man laying on the snow with blood pooling around him flashed in her mind. 

'Jon!'

Rhaenys tried to concentrate on the connection she had with Jon. She couldn't feel anything for a few moments when she did find it, it was very weak and she was losing it. 

* * *

**Snow**

Ramsay was riding towards the once-mighty fortress in the distance. He had received word that the fighting was over and that they had been successfully taken the moat calin from the squids. 

Moat calin was an impenetrable fortress with many armies having been crushed against its walls. That was the case for the armies attacking from the south, he, however, was attacking from the north, plus the fortress had been inhabited for years leading to the deterioration of its defences over time. 

That's not to say he hadn't lost men, oh he had lost men and not only because of the attacks from the ironborn but also from the Crannogmen hiding in the swamps around the fortress. 

Ramsay was satisfied with the number of men loyal to Lord Bolton who had died in the taking of the fortress from the squids. He would be even happier if more of these men died but he guessed he couldn't be too greedy. After all, everything had gone according to his plan. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Ser Barristan- Meereen (301AC)**

He and Grey worm were making their way to the Queen's tent to report back on what they had learned from their visit to the second son's camps. The Queen's tent was in the centre, surrounded by some Dothraki camps which were surrounded by the unsullied camps, with the second sons and Stormcrows being camped some distance from them. 

Soon he found himself facing the queen as she was waiting for him tell her what he had learned. They weren't the only once in the tent though, as Missandei, Ser Jorah, Grey worm and Lero were also present. 

Lero was in command of the Dothraki, there were only about 50 Dotharaki in the Queens Khalasar. However, ser Jorah didn't trust them as he believed that they should have abandoned the Khaleesi as soon as their Khal died, like how the rest of the khalasar and the other bloodriders had done. It was something he didn't dare say to the queen however as the same Dotharaki were the first people in Drogo's Khalasar to accept her with open arms. It was something which he had found very strange at the time and had started doubting them since then. it didn't help that he had also found out that these people had only joined Khal Drogo's Khalasar a few moons before he got married to Daenerys.

"My queen, there is nothing to worry about the second sons and Stormcrows are just drinking and celebrating as a result of which a small fight had broken out which didn't take long to escalate into a big brawl." 

"They are celebrating while we are camped right outside of Meereen and could be attacked at any time?"

"They are a sellsword company, your Grace. The chances are that the enemy won't attack them but will offer them Gold and have them fight against you." He paused for a while to let that sink in before continuing "Also, they said it's their way of living as they are always putting their life at risk and don't know if they will live to see another day so they like to enjoy their life and make the most of every day. Something which they said the unsullied won't understand the meaning of." He could make out that the Queen didn't like his last sentence at all by the look on her face. 

"Do any of you think that they will betray me after I spared the lives of the second sons after they fought against me in Yunkai?"

"It was either swear loyalty to you or death. That was the choice you gave them, your Grace. Even after you spared their lives their former leader, Mero, tried to kill you. The second sons are amongst the oldest of the free companies and they only take commands from their captain" 

Ser Jorah nodded before adding " You can't trust the Storm crows either Khaleesi" Jorah didn't trust the Stormcrows. They were a sellsword company, They only cared about gold and he trusted the person who was leading them even less. He had killed his fellow leaders and had offered the services of the company to the queen just so that he could get in her bed? The Stormcrows were just going to accept this person as their leader and follow him? 

The Queen looked towards Lero next to get his opinion. Ser Barristan waited patiently for them to finish speaking as he didn't understand Dothraki. 

It seems Lero didn't trust the sellsword companies at all and had even increased the number of Dothraki on guard around the queen's tent. The number of Dothraki on guard was already high since they had caught the Leader of the Stomcrows around the queen's tent. to increase that number, even more, was surprising, to say the least. 

The Queen seemed grateful for it though as she was when the Dothraki had stopped the Stormcrows leader from entering her tent. He had noticed how the Queen kept her distance from men and would have Missandei or other Dothraki women to accompany her most of the time. 

Daenerys looked in the corner of the tent where the dragons were resting. After gathering her thoughts she said " I know the sellswords cannot be trusted and that you are all worried about my safety, but the most important thing for me at this moment, even more, important then my life is that my children are safe. The world remembers the Dragons wrath and what they are capable of, some people would go to any lengths to be in possession of them. My children are the most vulnerable at this moment, they are not strong enough to defend themselves. Having the sellswords as part of our group gives my children an extra level of security, even though it is like handling a double-edged sword."

* * *

**The Queen**

Outside the walls of Meereen, two armed groups were facing each other. the first group was made up of men armed with shields and spears, some Dothraki riders and 3 dragons being led by Daenerys Targaryen, they were facing the walls of Meereen.

The second group with their backs to the walls of Meereen had a line of men with shields facing the first group while behind that line there was a battle going on with this groups members fighting against the second sons and Stormcrows. 

Just last night she had said that the Second sons and Stormcrows were like an extra layer of protection for her children and now right before her eyes, that extra layer of protection was ripped away. As behind the wall of men and shields, she could hear the sounds of battle and screams of dying men. 

When Daenerys had learnt that the sellswords camps were under attack she had wanted to send the unsullied to help them as these sellswords had sworn their loyalty to her. She had been advised that she could send in her unsullied and that would force the other group to fight on two sides. On the other hand, however, they didn't how many men they were up against, how well equipped was the other group, why did they give up their advantage of surprise and only attack the sellswords and not the unsullied?. They simply didn't have enough information at this moment to decide, so the choice was hers to make. 

In the end, she didn't have to make any choice as the opposite group had asked for a parley, and so here she was at the front of her group with Ser Barristan, Ser Jorah, Grey worm, Missandei, Lero and her 3 dragons. 

The wall of men and shields in front of them parted for just long enough to allow 3 people to come forward and start making their way towards her group. 

They were led by a person dressed in full armour from head to toe. To his right was a middle-aged man dressed in fine silks, who carried himself with confidence and authority. "Was he one of the slave masters of Meereen?". To the left of the person leading the group was a man holding what she guessed was the groups banner. Now that she thought about it this was the first time they were introduced to the groups banner, most of the bottom half of the banner was grey/whitish, there was a small flame at the centre of the banner on a black background.

Daenerys turned towards Ser Jorah when she heard him gasp and say "It's the Iron Bank's company!"

"Iron Bank's company? The Iron bank has it's own sellsword company?" 

"No, well they are mostly associated with the Iron Bank and work very closely with them. The company is not even that old, it was formed less than 20 years ago and yet, today it is one of the most feared and respected sellsword companies in Essos."

"Respected?" She asked with confusion, so far she thought that sellsword companies were just that, sellswords and that they would do anything for Gold weather it is right or wrong. Ser Jorah himself had told her many times that sellsword companies only cared about Gold. 

"Aye, not all the sellsword companies are like the Brave companions your Grace. There are some which may still work for Gold but their reason for picking up the swords may be different as well as what they do with the gold they earn. The company before us is one of those few companies." Ser Jorah paused before a look of confusion came over his face "But, as for what they are doing here today I wouldn't know, Your grace"

"I would, however, advice against going up against this company. They have their own way of operating and are still shrouded in mystery"The queen looked at him with a raised eyebrow so he decided to explain himself further.

"One of the biggest mysteries that surround this company is what happened about 3 years ago. The company was hired by some slave masters to act as their escort as they moved their gold from one city to another. Halfway through their journey, their convoy was under attack by a Khal with his Khalasar of over 20,000. The Khal had committed a small number of his forces in the first wave in which he suffered heavy loses, even though he had the numbers the company was well equipped, especially when compared to the Dothraki warriors. After the first wave, the Khal withdrew to a safe distance and waited. The company had formed a protective semi-circle around the masters and their gold, in the window opened by the first wave of the Khal's attack the masters abandoned the company and retreated to a safe distance away, where they were joined by the brave companions, the second sons and the Stormcrows sellsword companies." Jorah paused for a while before continuing.

"So the Iron banks company was now surrounded by the Khals Khalasar and the other 3 companies. It was a trap by the slave masters to get rid of the iron banks company. The Khal was supporting the slave masters because the slave masters used to buy slaves from him. Even though the slave masters had the company surrounded they didn't attack for two main reasons, the iron banks company was in a dire situation, if they attacked now then every member of the iron banks company will not be fighting for gold or glory but for their survival to see another day and will give it their all in one big attack. The second reason was that the slave masters didn't have to attack at all, they had the company surrounded on all sides in the middle of nowhere and could just starve them out. The slave masters also wanted to entertain themselves by watching as the company fall apart as their members abounded it or even betray and fight each other when they run out of food. The slave masters imagined it would turn out just like the fighting pits but on a much bigger scale. They were so confident of their victory that they spread the news across Essos that they had the whole of the iron banks company, 15,000 of them at their mercy"

Daenerys gasped and asked Jorah with confusing evident in her tone "from what I know about the reputation of the iron bank, what could make someone go against them?"

"Power, your grace, even a false sense of power can make us humans do anything" 

"How do you know about all this sir? Since this doesn't seem like common information" Sir Barristan asked with narrowed eyes.

"I know about all this because I tried to find out more information after what people said happened next" since no one seemed to have any more questions at the moment ser Jorah carried on. 

"Even when they were surrounded and with no hope of escaping the iron banks company didn't give in. Their members stayed calm and maintained disciplined for about a moon turn, even when they were running very low on supplies. There are a lot of rumours as to what happened that day your grace. But the one which caught my attention and made me investigate more into this is that. A great fire-spitting winged beast appeared from the one skies and lay waste to anything surrounding the company which made the slave masters, the Khalasar and the sellsword companies to abandon their siege and run for their lives. Yes, your grace, some people say that a dragon saved the iron banks company." what he couldn't tell his queen was that it was the spider who had made him aware of this rumour and asked him to look into it.

The queen was looking at him with wide unbelieving eyes, but a little hope was also ignited in them. 

"There is more your grace, the iron banks company then attacked the Khalsaar with 20,000 men in less than a moon. The company now had 5000 more members compared to a moon ago. They were not new recruits but already well-trained members, from where the company managed to get so many members in a moons time is a mystery as well. They timed the attack and exploited every weakness the Dothraki had to try and minimise their casualties. They annihilated the Khal and his Khalasar except for the slaves, the children and the women. Some say they provided them with a livelihood in their own wood business."

They were all silent as they all tried to process the information they had just learnt about the company standing before them.

* * *

"You stand in the presence of Daenerys Stromborn of House Targaryen. Mother of dragons and breaker of chains." Missandei introduced her, as the men from the company stopped before them. Which was followed by her children Stormborn, Rhaegal and Viserion coming forward and letting loose a roar towards them. 

Even though she didn't show it on her face, she was surprised by the reaction or rather the lack of reaction from the men before her. They showed no fear towards her dragons, even the men behind them remained at attention with steady legs. Normally men would cower and some would even take several steps back when they were introduced to her dragons. 

"This is Noho Dimittis representative of the Iron Bank." The man carrying the banner gestured to the middle-aged man standing on the far right of him. This was followed by the said man giving them a respectful bow. 

The man then went on to introduce the man standing beside him in full plate armour, along with the helm with the faceplate down. "This is Captain W, Captain of The Company of Ashes"

Daenerys froze when she heard the name of the company. First, the rumour of a dragon saving the company and now this word "Ashes". That word was a mystery to her. That word had entered her life when sir Willam Darry had told her on his death bed to trust in the "Ashes" and that "We will rise from the Ashes". Even to this day, it was a mystery to her as to what happened to his body, as it had gone missing after he died. 

After Ser Willam Darry's death life had been difficult for her and her brother as they were forced to move out of the house with the red door with the lemon tree in the garden. She had many sweet and lovely memories of growing up in that house, especially of her brother. As Ser Willam Darry was old it was mostly her brother who took care of her and looked after her in her early years of life. After that, they were living on the streets and running from the assassins. But after a few years she had realised that in fact, they hadn't been living on the streets as no matter which city they would run to in order to escape the assassins. They would always come across people who were very kind to them, suspiciously so and would put a roof above their head. 

It was as if someone was looking out for them from the shadows, and it was that word again as she had heard the people they lived with whisper that word, 'Ashes' in their conversations.

Daenerys was broken out of her thoughts by the voice of the captain, and he sounded young from his voice "Well met, My lady. I will get straight to the point, the Company or the Iron bank has no animosity towards you. Instead, we have a proposal for you. I'll let my friend, Noho explain it to you"

"Many years ago the slave masters took a loan from the bank. Just before they were due to pay back the loan, the slave masters hired the company of Ashes as an escort, around 3 years ago. The slave masters allied with a Khal along with 3 other sellsword companies, The Brave Companions, The Second Sons and the Stormcrows and had betrayed the Company of Ashes. They wanted to get rid of the sellsword company most associated with the Iron Bank as they had no intention of paying back the loan. It wasn't that they didn't have the gold, but rather that they didn't want to part with their gold." Naho Paused as Captain W took over from him. 

"The Company had dealt with the Khal years ago. Here we are today to deal with the Second sons and the StormCrows.tThat will be the end of that matter" 

" What about the Brave companions? The last I heard they were in Westeros?" Ser Barristan Questioned 

"Ser Barristan, The Brave Companions will see the last of their days in the Riverlands." 

"The Iron Bank will have its due. The Slave masters will be dealt with today, but that will result in a power gap. Our proposal for you is this, you will be the face of this change, you will rule Mareen and watch over Yunkai and Astapor, all of these cities will abolish slavery and will be cities of the free people, for the free people."Noho Proposed in a calm town of voice. Which contrasted greatly with Daenerys angry reply. 

"You want me to be a glorified puppet for the Iron Bank?!" sensing her rage Stormborn let out a roar and growled towards them. She was tired of being a puppet for someone else. Especially since when her children were born, as she was filled with a sense of freedom. She guessed that feeling of freedom will only ever be equalled when she rode Stormborn through the skies when he grows up.

"You will have your powers and freedom to do what you feel is right. The Iron bank won't be demanding things of you." Noho was about to continue when he was that she still wasn't convinced, but Captain W gestured him to stop as he took over.

"The Company of Ashes will remain by your side to help and protect you, and what's most precious to you" The Captain stressed the word 'Ashes' and then looked towards her Dragons when he said 'most precious to you'. 

Daenerys was now more on board with the idea, as with the Company being with her, along with the backing of the Iron bank will help protect her children through this vulnerable time for them. The words, the captain said next helped her make up her mind for sure. 

"We will rise from the Ashes" 

* * *

**The Old Lion - Kingslanding (301AC)**

Many Rumours were going around the city as to what exactly happened during the battle of the burning hill. 

Some said it was the God delivered Justice himself towards the Mountain and the brave companions for all the crimes they had committed in the Riverlands. A few even said it was the red God who set the whole hill on fire. Other said it was the Martells who took down the Mountain. 

Some rumour even said it was a dragon, which was laughed off rather easily. 

Arguably the most talked-about rumour was of how The King in the North turned into a humanoid wolf himself. He and his Direwolf then circled the mountain like a pack of wolves they were, they picked the mountain apart bit by bit and took him down together, all the while the northern army of savages was slaughtering the sellsword company and the mountains men. 

Even with all these rumours going around the one thing he was sure about was that the mountain is dead. The mountain was a valuable asset to him. The mountains name was enough to strike fear into the hearts of the people. A monster who was at his disposal whenever he needed it. The Young pup had yet to lose a battle, but the outcome of a war is not always decided on the battlefield. 

* * *

**The Northern Camp - Riverrun (301AC)**

Just like in Kinglanding rumours were going around the camp as to what happened during the battle of the burning hill. However, two of the rumours stood out most which were:

The Old Lion had sent the mountain into a trap. He handed the mountain over to the Martells in hopes of a possible alliance with Dorne in the near future. 

Lord mooton had hired a sellsword company, but a red Priest had accompanied them. The Red priest used blood magic to rain fire down on the hill. 

The Battle of the burning hill was not what the King in the North was discussing with the Lords of the North and Riverlands. The Northern lords had requested this meeting, they would have prefered if the River lords weren't here for this. 

"My Lords, what did you all want to discuss" Robb addressed all the Northern lords.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to end the chapter there, since I'm a bit indecisive at the moment, as to shall I follow the red wedding route or no red wedding, which will be the risky route and see where that goes. originally I was supposed to follow the red wedding, but just a warning that even if I don't follow it Robb will still have to suffer and might even be worse off. 
> 
> so let me know what you all think. Thanks


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the feedback, I received, I have made a change in this chapter. 
> 
> The red wedding takes place like how it did in the show. 
> 
> Thanks for the feedback.

**North (301AC)**

**The Sun of Winter**

He could feel the snow crunch below his feet. It felt way better than walking on damp, muddy grounds in the Riverlands. It felt good to be back in the North. It gave him a sense of coming home But, at the same time, it reminded him of the family. more than half of which he had lost during the war. It was only him and his little sister now.

Torrhen had lost both his brothers during the battle of the whispering wood. His elder brother, Eddard had fallen first right before his eyes, and at that moment all he had felt was pure rage. He had charged ahead, his vision a blur of gold and red as he slashed down any Lannister men that dared block his path from reaching the man who had taken his brother away from him. He had run his sword through the man, he had avenged his brother and he had carried on hacking and slashing at the enemy. Rage, however, is a double-edged sword in battle. Torrhen was so consumed by rage that he didn't see the killing blow coming towards him until it was too late. He was waiting for the killing blow to hit, yet it never came. As his Eldest brother had stepped in front of him and taken the blow instead. 

He was still haunted by that moment of his brother just appearing ahead of, time seemed to slow down. his brother just staring at him as if nothing was wrong shielding him from the blow. Only for blood to overflow out of his mouth and then coughing out more blood. He then noticed the sword sticking out of his brother's stomach. Torrhen had been frozen in shock as he watched on as his brother stumbled forward, freeing himself from the sword. Harrion had let out a roar as he turned around and with the last of his energy he went on to eliminate the man behind him. 

Torrhen had only come out of his shock when he saw his brother falling to the ground. Rushing forward and cathing his brother he looked around desperately to try and look for any help. The battle was coming to an end and which had given him a little hope. Looking down at his brother, however, any hope that had blossomed in his chest had been shattered. He was slowly shaking his head from side to side, he had a look of a man who had accepted his fate. He could feel his tears streaming down, clearing a path through the blood and grime on his face. Torrhen moved his ear closer to him when he saw that his brother was trying to say something. 

"D-don't bl-blame yo-your-se-lf . T-take Ca-care o-of A-Alys."

Those were the last words of his brother before his body had gone limp in his arms. 

He was broken from his thoughts when he heard the crunching of snow behind him.

Torrhen was not pleased with him being disturbed, he had told his men not to disturb him as he wanted some time for himself to sort out his thoughts and clear his mind. The clear northern air and the view of his surroundings bathed in the snow were helping him do that. he had kept himself busy so that he won't be able to think about all he had during this war, But that didn't mean that he wasn't plagued with nightmares at night over his brothers' deaths and father's execution. The one which tormented him the most was where he loses his only remaining family, his sister.

Taking a deep breath he recollected himself and focused on the present. He was here. back in the North now, he had people to lead and he will make sure no harm came to his sister. He lived for his sister and the North now. His sister Alys Karstark, who was in Winterfell.

The person called out his name to announce their presence behind him. The frown on his face melted away when he realised who the person was, yet he didn't turn around. 

"Torr?" 

Branda stepped beside him and he gave her a nod but stayed silent. 

Torrhen wanted to speak to her about his father's execution, he had his father to confide in when his brothers died, but after his father's death he had just kept it to himself, he wanted to share his thoughts with someone. At the same time, he didn't know if she wanted to talk about his loss or not. He had only seen the confident, wild and fierce side of her so far. 

They just stood there in silence before she put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. Looking at her grey eyes, which were normally hard and icy, were now soft and filled with concern as she gave him a nod. With that, he let out all the thoughts running around in his head. 

"The one who passes the sentence must swing the sword. Is a saying believed to be passed down from the old gods. Kinslaying, which is frowned upon by the old gods. But which one do you follow when they are both against each other, which was the case when Robb sentenced my father to death." Branda noticed how he addressed The King in the North, but couldn't blame him after what the events which led him back in the North, it was not like she had any love for the Starks anyways. 

"It shouldn't have come to that in the first place. Aye, I agree that his father made a mistake but he was a father grieving his two sons. The moment must have gotten to him as his father knew what it was like in war and that he could lose his sons in it. The events before his father had started drinking that day didn't help either." Branda didn't know what events he was talking about in the last sentence, but she didn't want to disturb him as he seemed to be half talking to himself. 

"As for my father murdering those 2 southern squires. The south spoke about honour and righteous knights and yet they send their children to squire for them and then to war. If my father is looked down upon for killing those 2, then why isn't anyone questioning those southerners who sent their children to war. In the end, it was a war" she knew that Torr did have a point there but she also knew that this didn't justify his father's actions. She had a feeling that he knew this as well. 

"This war just makes us appreciate the peaceful times we had before this." she eyed him warily as she said her next sentence, waiting to see his reaction to it "I may not like the Starks, but they have been the ones responsible for holding the north together peacefully for many years and I can respect them for that." 

"I don't think I need to tell you about how I feel about the king in the North or his Southern mother. As for the rest of the Starks I just, I don't know how I feel about them." 

"I can understand that, As far as we know the rest of the Starks are innocent in this matter. I hate it when the rest of the family has to pay the price for the actions of a few of their family members." Torrhen noticed how Branda had her hands clenched as she said that with passion. 

They stood in silence for a while after that before she told him about the meeting they are going to have at dawn tomorrow in the village close by. 

Her departing words were running laps around his head as he was sure he had heard them before.

"Be prepared the sun of winter for winter is coming and life turns grey in winter" 

* * *

**A Village in the North**

In one of the many houses in the village, a few people wearing all black with a white piece of cloth wrapped around their arms were gathered. 

He came across the Brotherhood while on his tour of the North more than 6 years ago. At first, he had no hopes for it and only joined it out of curiosity to see how long this brotherhood will last before their leader will give in to his greed and just sell them out to any lord who will pay him. As the days turned into weeks and weeks into months, and the leader's refusal of any aid from the lords, he realised that the leader was genuinely working for the betterment of the smallfolk. No one knew of his involvement with the brotherhood.

He Had risen through the ranks and given his own group to command and was assigned a place close to Kharhold to look after. The leader had chosen the people to lead based on their abilities. Even he had taken some time to rise through the ranks. 

Torrhen had thought that the leader didn't know that he was a Karstark but he was stunned when the leader had finally graced him with his presence without the ever-present hood and told him who he was and that he knew that he was a Karstark all along. 

Torrhen looked around at the people gathered. They were war veterans from the previous war and the leaders of the other groups, among them, were Branda and Raff. 

The war veterans may not be of much help on the battlefield now because of their age but that didn't mean that their experience from wars couldn't be useful to them now. It had helped them immensely in dealing with the Ironborns who had tried to raid the north. Especially the advice from the people who had fought during the Greyjoy rebellion. 

He was informing them of the condition of the Northern army before he left. 

After the Mountain, his men and the Brave companions had been defeated at the Battle of the Burning Hill. The Northern and Riverland army was in good spirits. His father had taken him along to the meeting the northern Lords had requested of the King in the North. His father had refused to let him out of his sight after he had lost 2 of his sons to the war. 

Torrhen knew that they had not been in a good situation then but he had only realised how bad it was during that meeting. The Northern Lords had requested the meeting to request King Robb to explain his plans going forward as they were in a dire situation then. With the Reach now allied with the Crown and Lannisters. Dorne had been neutral in the war till then but, any hope of them siding with the North was gone when they had learned of Princess Myrcella's betrothal to Prince Trystane. There was also the rumour of Twin Lannister giving up the Mountain to the Martells to gain their alliance. Stormlands had lost a majority of their forces during the battle of blackwater. The Iron Islands had gone back to their ways and were raiding the Northern shores. That had only left the Vale and their Honorable Knights which had yet to come to their aid. 

King Robb was already aware of the situation they were in there, but there was one major thing the Northern Lords - with their previous experience in wars - had brought up that he wasn't aware of. 

There may have been enough food at the time or maybe for even more than a moon to keep the army feed but After that, they were going to be running low on food and could even face a famine. The reasons for this were that with the Northern army at war the next harvest would be very low and it didn't help that at the beginning of the war all the banners were called urgently. All this was before taking into account that the Northern shores were being raided by the Ironborn. As for the Riverlands providing them with food, most of the Riverlands were already looted by the Lannisters since the war began. 

The only thing going in their favour was that they had Jaime Lannister as their prisoner. 

So when Jaime Lannister was realised by Catelyn Tully the Northern Lords and especially his father was furious. That plus, Tywin had raided the Riverlands because Catelyn Tully had imprisoned his dwarf son, who he had no love for. What would he do now when his eldest son was held captive for many moons. He could as well hire a sellsword company to raid the Norths Eastern shores. 

Catelyn Tully should have persuaded her son to trade the Lannister for her 2 daughters. The Northern Lords wouldn't have liked it but given the dire situation, they were in they would have eventually agreed. As for his father, if She had just spoken to him as a mother worried for her children then he as a father would have understood her. as he knew what it was like to lose 2 of his children and he wouldn't want her to lose hers either. 

Looking at the grim situation they were in the some Northern Lords had suggested something he wouldn't have believed if he wasn't there to witness it. 

They had suggested that King Robb negotiate some sort of peace with the Crown, with Princess Sansa and Princess Arya returned to them and for them to return back North. He remembered how the King had openly gaped at them and his expression was no different at the time. The Northmen were known for their boisterous attitude and exaggerated tales of the battlefield. Save to say his father was not on board with this idea but had begrudgingly agreed at the time. When the Riverland Lords had protested against this and called the Northmen cowards the Northerners had only one answer for them.

The North Remembers. 

The Northern Lords had argued that this was for the North, for the children who were the future of the North. They were ready to set aside their Stature, Honour and Pride for their survival and the Norths Survival. 

They had given the example of Torrhen Stark. He may be known as the King who knelt in the south, some Northern men and women had even chosen to self-exile - to Essos where they formed the Company of The Rose - then bend the knee to Aegon I Targaryen. For most of the North, however, he would always be king Torrhen Stark. Yes, he had bent the knee but, he did it for the North.

King Robb, however, had disagreed with this proposal stating that it wasn't honourable and that justice had to be delivered for the crimes committed against the Riverlands. 

His Father had stormed out of that tent and he had gone after him. He remembered what his father telling him that he only agreed with the other Lords to negotiate and head back North so that he won't lose his remaining son and Daughter to this war. After which he had started drinking heavily and then proceeded to murder the Frey guards and the Lannister squires. 

Torrhen had taken a break there from his retelling and reliving of the events.

"When I had decided that I would be heading back north with The Karstarks 3000 men-at-arms. I was approached and then joined by another 2000 men from the Northern army who are part of the brotherhood and wanted to travel back home."

"I think the best option, is for you to lead the Karstark men-at-arms to Karhold, we shouldn't prevent them from returning home to their family after they have been at war." one of the war veterans advised, as all the war veterans nodded vigorously on that no doubt reliving their own homecomings and how much those moments meant for them. They knew from experience how much this will mean for those men returning from the war of the five kings now. 

"The members of the brotherhood who joined you will be free to go back to their homes all across the north." 

"Adding on to that, they or we don't have to be worried about the Ironborns anymore as we have gotten rid of them from the north." Raff said while lifting his mug of ale and saying "For the North"

"For the north" 

Their good spirits didn't last long however as soon after that, they got the news that King Robb, The King in the North and the King of the Trident was Dead.

* * *

Lord Roose Bolton had assisted the Frey during the Red Wedding betraying King Robb Stark and the North. On top of that, he may not have broken the guest rights but he had assisted the man who did break them. 

Guest right is a sacred and ancient custom in Westeros, it is even recognized in Essos. It is a sacred law of hospitality, especially in the North, Since it dates back thousands of years to the First men. 

"That explains why the Bolton men have been camped outside Winterfell. They had said that it was to protect Winterfell from the ironborn raids. That was horseshit and we knew it, yet we couldn't do anything as before the war the brotherhood was seen as a criminal group, the Lords and ladies didn't trust us."

"Aye, even my own father didn't trust the group. Since the leader refused to meet any lords, they believed him to have some ulterior motives. Only a few people know who he is." Torrhen said while trying not to think of his father. The leader had assured him that his sister was safe and that no harm will come to her, yet he couldn't stop himself from worrying about her. 

Father had sent her to Winterfell to be there for the Starks and also to try and get close to one of the Stark boys. His father wanted her to marry one of the starks. He would often say in his own way that "they had to get some wolf blood back in there, to compensate for the fish blood".

"Roose Bolton wants to rule the north like how many of his ancestors had wanted. The Boltons have rebelled against the Starks the most. He will soon be marching North to claim Winterfell." Branda stated something they all knew.

"There must always be a Stark in Winterfell." one of the war veterans stated before continuing "We have discussed this amongst ourself," he said while he gestured to the people sitting beside him "there will be many other meanings to this or reasons for this saying. we believe it means that only the starks can hold the north together. Winterfell is the heart of the North, that's why it is said that there must always be a Stark in Winterfell." the person sitting beside him took over from hi as he went on to say:

"One of the reasons for this goes back hundreds of years ago when the starks had defeated the other northern kings and married into their main family tieing them in kinship. It is possible that the starks have married into almost all the principal families of the North. It would give the other great houses of the North a feeling of kinship to the Starks. This feeling on kinship will hold them back from betraying the starks as Kinslaying is frowned upon by the old gods. Yes, there had been rebellions in the past and Starks have been killed. Yet, The Starks have prevailed and held Winterfell for thousands of years."

"The leader is working on a plan to deal with the Boltons. Dealing with the Boltons will be a delicate matter, especially with the Bolton bastard out for our blood, Till then we are to lay low." Raff passed on the instructions from their leader, which were followed by a firm nod from everyone. 

* * *

**Neck**

"Lord Reed. Thank you, for your hospitality. With the recent events, I think it is best if me, Lord Glover and the Northmen the king had sent with us return back to our homes to help fight off the remaining Ironborns." Lady Maege addressed Lord Reed. She couldn't wait to get back on Bear Island to reunite with her daughters. She wanted to hold them in her arms, it will also help put her mind at ease that they were okay, she had already lost 2 of her daughters, Dacey and Alysane, who were killed at the red wedding. 

Lord Reed had told them that the North was not in a dire situation as they had believed it to be in. Which was confirmed further when she heard back from her daughter, Lyra, from Bear Island. 

"We should travel by sea to avoid the Bolton bastard and his men. Lyra has already sent out warships to get us back home" 

"You had warships and yet you kept this knowledge from the King?. we could have used them to defend the northern shores against the Ironborn!" Robett Glover accused Lady Maege while glaring at her. 

"You wanted to fight the Ironborn at sea? the Sqids may be easy to kill on land, but at sea, they will easily defeat us. We have no experience of warfare at sea." Lady Maege fired right back. "Most of the warships are Ironborn ships which were sized after we killed them on land." 

Robett just gritted his teeth and looked away. His brother was doubtful of Mormonts after they stopped any trade with them and had gone into isolation many years ago. He was worried about his children, Gawen and Erena, and his wife who were at Deepwood Motte. He had already lost his brother, Galbart Glover, in this war.

"I and my son will be accompanying you on your journey North." now that made Lady Maege pause as the Crannogmen rarely left the neck. 

Looking at the questioning look she was giving him Lord Reed explained himself further but didn't give much away.

"I will be travelling to the wall"


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello, Yes I haven't abandoned this fic as most of you must have thought, with the how long it's been since I updated. My Workplace has been quite busy with the whole situation with Covid-19. But, now that things are starting to get back to normal ( well as normal as it can get) I have finally managed to find the time to finish this chapter. 
> 
> Originally, I wanted to cover all the years of what Jon has been up to beyond the wall and catch up with the current timeline. But, then the Chapter kept on getting longer and longer so I decided to split them in 2. 
> 
> This chapter starts back when Jon first sets out on the ranging (299AC). So the beginning of this chapter takes place alongside Chapter 7, and then there is a time skip of 1 year. The rest will be in the next chapter until we catch up with the current timeline (I hope that makes sense). One last thing to note, this chapter takes place mostly from Jon's POV, There are some bits which are from different characters but they are for a short while so they are not separated from his POV.

**The True North (299AC)**

**Jon (16 years old)**

Jon and Sam had been on a ranging for a few weeks and now they found themselves surrounded by wildlings all dressed in furs and wielding spears, flails and axes.   
  
Jon knew that the wildlings respected strength, so he took a fighting stance and told Sam to watch his back with the minimal skills he had learned with the sword while at the wall. 

They had their backs to each other facing the group of wildings surrounding them. 

Jon was aware of them being watched by someone before the group of wildings fell upon them. He also knew that now the same people were hiding and watching them from the shadows, surrounding them from all sides. He knew all of this thanks to Ghost. The people who were watching them earlier and the people surrounding them and this wilding group were the same. They smelt the same. They were probably the wilding scouts of this group. 

Ghost was close by he knew that. he was staying out of sight from the wildings and he would like it to stay that way. He may have been growing at an alarming rate but he was only just above a year old now. He didn't want to throw away ghosts life if things went badly here. Uncle Bnejen had brought Ghost along with him from Winterfell after one of his visits there. Apparently, all his cousins had a direwolf companion of their own now. 

Jon had grown close to the furball especially after all the wolf dreams he had had. He had only a few over the past year after ghost joined him on the wall. But he had had quite a few of them in the few weeks that they had been on this ranging. He had a wolf dream every time they made camp near a heart tree.

He remembered when he was just leaning back against a heart tree and resting and In the next instant, he was walking on the snow, looking down he saw that he was a lot closer to the ground and that he had two white paws. Looking up ahead he had seen the image of himself leaning against the heart tree with his eyes closed. 

Jon had sat upright with a gasp and staring straight at him was Ghost. 

It had freaked him out at first but then it had made sense and answered a lot of his questions. He remembered the stories old nan used to tell them about people who could enter other animals mind, about wargs and skinchangers. As they grew up they had dismissed those as just stories. Now, however, he realised that old nan had also told them about the long night and the dead. Wolf dreams weren't the only visions he had seen during this ranging, Jon also had visions of a blue-eyed being made entirely of ice and leading an army of the dead. 

* * *

Val and the group had been informed of their presence from the scouts which had gone ahead of them. Now the same scouts were hiding around the area surrounding her group in case the crows tried to escape. 

They were just playing with them, they could have dealt with them easily. It was a game to see how far they would go before abandoning each other.

Jon and Sam had been prying off attacks for a while now. Jon could see that sam was beginning to tire.

Sam knew that he couldn't keep this up for long as he was going to be exhausted soon. He hoped that this will end soon. But he also knew that the only way this would end will be by them losing. They couldn't keep this up forever, he knew that they were just being played with. 

The wildings gave Sam a choice. They will spare his life if he left now, alone. Leaving Jon behind. They were asking him to either stay here and fight beside his friend and die or leave with his life intact. 

Jon knew that there was no way the wildings would let Sam go. surely the scouts would go after him. But he kept the information about the presence of the scouts to himself. He wanted to see what choice Sam would make. 

If Sam chooses to stay and fight beside him then there is a chance he would survive. But, if he chooses to abandon him and leave with his life then he would lose it. Jon knew this and yet he chooses to just stare at the wildings ahead of him not even acknowledging Sam while he struggles within himself to make a choice. Whatever choice Sam makes he will have to deal with the consequences. 

He had trained with Sam, even helped him with his footwork and spend time with him along with the other recruits. He thought that Sam was someone he considered a friend. Yet, at this moment he just felt indifferent towards any choice that Sam makes. It scared him how sometimes he just felt emotionless and indifferent towards things. The only thing that kept him sane at these times was that Jon knew that there certain people or things, who he was close to that brought out the emotions in him. And at those times he would be an emotional mess. 

He couldn't make sense of it, sometimes he was as cold as ice, but other times he would have his emotions running wild like a wildfire which would just make his heart feel heavy. 

Jon was broken out of his musings when he heard sam stutter out his choice and Sam had chosen to leave. 

What Sam didn't know was that he had in fact just sealed his fate. He won't get much further out before the scouts will be upon him. 

  
Jon was free to one of his house swords, Blackfyre, now. Even with the sharper, lighter and stronger Valyrian sword of his father's house - which he had found along with the letter in the crypts all those years ago - he was still no match for them. Jon was just outnumbered and the second thing was also the reason for him losing most of his spares against Nys even to this day, no matter how hard he trained. That reason being his lack of battle experience. 

That didn't mean he had no skill with the sword. Far from it as he had managed to create some openings for him which he had taken the advantage of but not in the way the wildings were expecting him to. 

Val had noticed that even when the remaining crow had created himself a few rare openings he didn't take them. He showed that he could have taken advantage of these openings by giving small cuts to the people. 

One of the men had finally decided to ask him mockingly for why he was holding back. His answer had stopped all fighting. 

"Because you are not my enemy. My enemy, our humans enemy in the one with blue eyes and his army of the dead."

As they travelled north Jon had come across many Heart trees. They were many of them this side of the wall. He had seen visions of the night king and the army of the dead he was beginning to build. 

He would have dismissed these visions if he hadn't seen and fought dead men in the lord commanders chambers. 

And then while they stayed at Craster's keep he had seen that.. that.. whatever it was made of ice taking the child away. 

Jon told the wildings about what he had seen at Craster's Keep and about fighting dead men all those years ago. 

He had requested them to take him to Mance Rayder. When they seemed hesitant to do so he had told them that he knew people on the wall and south of the wall, people who could help them. They also knew that he was not a big treat with the confrontation earlier. Plus this was north of the wall so he guessed there were fewer reservations with bringing someone before their King. 

* * *

**(300AC)**

**Jon**

Jon had been living with the free folk for over a year now. He had been trying to understand their way of living and looking at things from their perspective. He has had no contact with the night's watch what so ever not that he has even tried to make any contact with them. He felt that he could help both groups by living amongst the free folk and learning their way of life. 

Life was certainly harder beyond the wall and all the free folk worked hard to survive in this unforgiving land. to make matters worse for them they had to deal with the others as well now. 

That's why he was here trying to make them see him as one of them or at least believe in him to be able to help them get across the wall and away from the others. 

Even with all the hardships, the free folk faced they didn't give up and fought for their survival and they made sure to lighten up and enjoy their lives may it be by playing drums and pipes and singing the bawdy songs and ballads. 

They had their famous songs which were passed down for generations. Songs like: The last of the giants, The red raven, and the horn of winter. "Winter rose" a song by the legendary Bael the bard, his songs are said to be known by all the free folk. 

He had also come to realise that the free folk don't hate the Northmen as much as they hate the men of the night's watch. But that's not to say that they don't get along at all, he had heard that some free folk even trade at Eastwatch-by-the-sea. Lost brothers of the Night's watch are even aided by the free folk several times. The Night's Watch brothers had sometimes even taken in free folk children and raised them to be their members. 

He had also learned that it was the same case with Mance Rayder, the King-Beyond-The-Wall. His parents were a common free folk woman and a man of the nights watch. He was taken by the night's watch and raised as one of them. Now that he thought about it, it made sense that the free folk followed Mance Rayder because he was actually one of them, he had free folk blood. 

Jon was on his way to visit Ghost some distance away from the free folk camp. No one in the free folk knew of Ghost's existence yet. Ghost was free to roam the wilderness but he always knew when Jon needed him. One of the reasons he hadn't told anyone about Ghost was because he was his last surprise resort if he found himself in deep waters. Ghost was like his eyes around the camp he would warg into him and scan the area surrounding the camp and the camp as well for treats from the outside and the inside. It helped greatly that Ghost was a lot like his namesake. 

So far the thing he liked the most was that here he was given the freedom to do what he wants to be himself without worrying about what the people will think. He had the choice here where he could make his own decisions without any outside influence or because he was pressured into making that decision. 

That freedom to be able to make his own choices and decisions based on what he feels gave him a sense of freedom. He didn't have to think about what the people thought. if they thought he was making the right decisions or wrong it didn't matter to him anymore.

Now he had realised that before he had felt like how ghost felt when he was trapped inside a room. Now over the years, he had managed to get a sense of freedom and when he started living with the wildings no one knew him here. No one knew who his parents were, or that he was a supposed bastard of the warden of the North (maybe only Mance Rayder knew that). the only thing people knew about him was that he was a crow. But, that didn't affect him much as the crow has his freedom just like how he had his. he had no expectations to live up to he could just be himself and fully embrace his instincts without having to worry about any repercussions. 

He could last out at anyone if he wanted to and let out this boiling rage he had felt within him. before he used to keep it on a leash and bury it deep inside him but now he can let it out and roar at them like a dragon or growl at them like a Direwolf. it worked well that no one here among the free folk would think of him as mad or as a beast if he did either of those things. Even if some of them did think of him as a beast then he would simply not give a fuck. 

It had taken him years to finally embrace who he was and he was not letting go of it just because he was worried about what others thought. 

The free folk were wary of him mostly because of how small he was in stature and yet he could take down their mightiest warriors now. Its because he had been trained from a young age and then learnt how to fight dirty when he was at the wall and when he lived with the free folk he learned how to fight for survival. 

There were still some wilding clans who had refused to join Mance Rayder's host. These clans would clash with them when they came across each other either while hunting or otherwise. these confrontations had helped him gain the valuable battle experience which he had been lacking before. 

* * *

They were returning from a hunt. A hunt which had cost a life of one man and had injured some others in their hunting party. The man who died had two girls who would be waiting along with their mother, Karsi, for their father to come back. Karsi and her family were a few of the handful of freefolk who had been kind to him and helped him adjust to the new environment and way of life when he had joined the free folk.

This was not the first time that they had a casualty on their hunt. But it was the first time that it was because of his mistake that had cost them a life. 

The freefolk got their main source of food by hunting. You had to go on a hunt with others to get food for yourself and your family. 

He felt guilty for taking away a member of their family. Karsi was a strong woman both mentally and physically. She will be devastated but she will be strong for her daughters. 

Jon wanted to help them in any way he could and he thought that training her daughters to defend themselves would be the best he could do. He would train them so that they can protect themselves.

No one could protect someone all the time, forever. 

It was the bitter truth but one he had accepted. The best he could do was help them become stronger so that they can face whatever comes their way whether he be standing beside them or not. 

Jon wished he had known that before so that he could help train or give some pointers to Arya or even Sansa, She may have been indifferent towards him, but she was still his cousin. He was glad that at least he had given Arya some advice through their letters before he went on the ranging. 

It's not like Karsi's daughters won't be getting training from the clan anyways but there was only so much that they could teach them. What Jon was thinking was something which involved all the clans in the free folk camp. He had been thinking about this issue for a while now and he was going to bring it up with Mance Rayder along with the clan leaders. 

The King-Beyond-The-Wall had managed to get most of the freefolk in one place. However, all the different clans kept to themselves. They were united in one place but they were not working together. Most of the people trained with their own people from their clan and that's where the problem was. They already knew most of their members fighting style. Which was holding them back from developing into better fighters, as there were no new challenges for them.

Jon wanted people from all the different clans to train together and help each other develop further. He wasn't asking them to share their clan secrets or anything but just to give and get some advice back after sparing with different people. It might even reduce the number of fights that occur between different clans from time to time.

Jon did have an ulterior motive to this proposal as well though. Which was connected to him helping Karsi with training her daughters. 

Jon didn't like the stealing tradition the freefolk had instead of marriage. However, He wasn't going to tell them to stop it. Not only because he didn't have enough power to stop it, but also because he had lived with them long enough to know that it was more like a tradition for them it was just how it has been for them for a while now he guessed. 

That, however, didn't mean that he couldn't do anything about it. He just had to go about it in a different way. He knew that it was the women who were mostly stolen, and it was mostly against their wishes. that's not to say that sometimes the women didn't steal men either. What Jon wanted to do was to start to train the women to defend themselves. 

He knew that if he started to train a few of them then the spearwives will join in and help him train them. Hell, maybe even some men will join him to help train them. He will need all their help he knew that they were more experienced and would help give them advice and tips. It was not that he was the main person who would train them, No he was just the face of it. He just had to get the movement going and then the others will join. 

Jon knew that they will join because there were fathers, who wanted to protect their daughters, brothers who wanted to protect their sisters, mothers who wanted to protect their daughters and so on. He was just the spark to light the fire. 

* * *

Most of the clan heads seem to be thinking about what Jae had just proposed.

That was another change Jon had to get used to, although it was a change which he introduced. He had introduced himself as Jae. He had introduced himself as such as this was a chance for him to start using his actual name. He used the shorter version of the name, Jaehaerys, as it would raise less suspicion and it sounded like he just used the first alphabet from his name Jon. It may seem like an insignificant change but it gave him some comfort that he was finally able to use the name which was given to him by his mother. 

The clan heads gave nothing away from the facial expressions, they just gave him a cold blank look. On the other hand, there were a few who told him what he thought about his proposed idea straight away. Like the Magnar of thenns who just spat on the floor to tell him what he thinks about Jae's idea.

"I still say the crow is just trying to get us to let our guard down so he could rat us out to his brothers"

"I'm just trying to help you here"

"yeah sure you are crow" Weeper decided to let his opinions be known by sneering at Jae.

"I'm one of you and I am trying to help my people" Jae growled out at them. 

He proclamation was meet with outrage and angry stares from all the gathered clan heads, while Mance just narrowed his eyes at Jae.   
it seems the freefolk may have their differences but they were all still proud to be called freefolk and didn't take kindly to outsiders calling themselves one of them. 

"your people? just because you have lived with us doesn't make you one of us. you are a crow and for us, you will be a crow till you die" The Magnar of Thenns stated furiously. 

"the only reason you weren't killed was that we wanted to see how long you will last before you got yourself killed," The weeper said with barely hidden disgust. 

When the outraged shouts finally settled down Jae looked at them all in the eyes and said "Aye, I was a crow but so was Mance and yet you all follow him. As for me not being one of you, you are wrong because I am one of you, as I have free folk blood running through my veins"

Whereas his last statement was met with outrage this time it was met with silence. 

"Aye, I am Bael the Bards descendant"

To the people north of the wall it didn't matter as much as would have for the people south of it that Jon was a descendant of a King beyond the wall. what mattered more was that he had freefolk blood. 

Jae looked at them all trying to make sense of what he just said before he finally settled his gaze on the King Beyond the Wall.  
His gaze was followed by the rest of the gathered free folk.

Jae stared at Mance Rayder as the King beyond the wall gave him a hard stare before eventually nodding and confirming what Jon just said. Mance went on to explain to them how that was the case.

"Aye, the lad speaks the truth, He is the bastard son of the Lord of Winterfell, Lord Stark" 

"He is a Stark?!" someone shouted out while some of them looked at him with wide eyes while the rest looked at him with narrowed eyes. 

Of course, they would refer to him as a Stark even though he was introduced as a bastard to them. Even though he now knew that he was not only a Stark but also a Targaryen. That didn't stop him from feeling a sense of belonging when he was referred to as a Stark. After all, he was a kid all he had wanted to be was a Stark.

Jae realised the significance and weight the name Stark had even this far North, by looking at the reaction of the clan heads. 

From all the whispering going on amongst the clan heads, one whisper, no one name had made him freeze. 

White Wolf. 

Had they somehow found out about Ghost? 

Jae couldn't warg into Ghost here to check on him. He had checked on him before coming to this meeting, plus there would have been a big commotion if Ghost was found out. So he would just have to have trust in Ghost to stay hidden and out of sight like he had all this time. Jae pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind as he focused on Mace when he started to carry on his explanation. 

"Bael-The-Bard, It is believed that he was one of the greatest raiders of his time. He had entered Winterfell pretending to be a singer from Skagos. It helped that he was a singer and even the lord of Winterfell at the time, Brandon Stark, was impressed with his singing skills. He even asked the Bard what he wanted as a reward. To which Bael had requested to be given "only the most beautiful flower blooming in the Winterfell's gardens". After which was gifted a blue winter rose.

Lord Starks maiden daughter, his only child was among those who were impressed with Bael the Bards skills. 

The next morning Lord Stark woke up to find his daughter missing, with only a blue winter rose left on her bed. 

Lord Stark sent out search parties all over the North and even asked had the Night's Watch members looking for them beyond the wall. But, they never found the girl or Bael. 

A year later, with the Stark line on the verge of extinction Lord Stark found his daughter back in her room, holding an infant in her arms. She revealed to him that they had never left Winterfell, staying hidden in the crypts. 

Not long after that Brandon Stark passed away and His daughters bastard with Bael became the new lord of Winterfell. 

Many Years later Bael the bard now the King-Beyond-The-Wall led the wildling army south, where he came up against his son, The Lord of Winterfell, at the Frozen ford. 

Bael the bard died there as he couldn't bring himself to kill his blood. Lord Stark killed him and brought his head back as a trophy. When his mother saw the severed head of Bael the bard- the man who she loved and the father of her son, being displayed by her son around Winterfell as a trophy -she killed herself by leaping from the top of a tower."


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the feedback and support, it's what keeps the story going. 
> 
> I have included 2 image links in this chapter, do check them out. (they are not mine, all the image credits are on the link)
> 
> Shout out to Max207 for being the beta reader. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this Chapter.

**The Frozen Shore (301AC)**

**Jae**

Jae stood across a man riding on a bear, who was growling and baring his teeth at Jae and yet at the same time he seemed to be tense and reluctant.

Jae glanced at the armed men and women who were standing behind their leader. He didn't bother too much about them because he wasn't alone either. Plus, He knew that the others won't get involved as their leader won't allow it. He had already told them to stay back. The man saw Jae as just a crow playing at being a freefolk. At first, Jae thought that it was the colour black-which he still insisted to be a part of his outfit, not because it reminded him of being a crow but because it was one of the colours of his father's house- which gave him away. But, Jae was surprised when he found out that these people knew about him, he guessed there was some truth to the rumours about the men of the frozen shore after all. He was underestimating Jae, which Jae was sure to use to his advantage. 

Jae didn't worry too much about the bear either because knew Ghost was close by and he knew that Ghost can take care of the bear. Ghost had grown exponentially and now was even bigger than that bear, and the bear isn't something one would call small. 

No one in the free folk knew about ghost yet. Jae had so far managed to keep him out of sight of the free folk even though there were some rumours among the free folk about a huge white beast hunting near their camp. 

Today, however, with the situation he found himself in, he knew that it was time for Ghost to come out insight and to join him on his side.

It was his fault, and some would say because of his recklessness that he found himself this deep in trouble. But after what this clan had done, he couldn't contain his rage and had set out to find them and confront them on his own. 

* * *

Jae remembered all the times he had seen the couple along with their new-born. He also remembered how every single time the women would call his name, give him a big smile and show off her new-born first child with joy and pride. 

Jae didn't ever remember interacting with the woman before or even knowing her personally, yet he would just reply with a small smile and a nod. What he had failed to notice was the frown on her husband’s face every time this happened. 

Soon he was confronted by the woman's husband asking about his relationship with her and Jae had been honestly clueless. 

When he told Karsi about this, she had just laughed at the situation he found himself in, going on to say that she was not surprised that the woman's husband had confronted him after looking at the way the woman had interacted with Jae. Karsi could easily see how the way the woman showed her child to Jae, could be intercepted as a woman presenting a child to their father. 

Thankfully, after Karsi had gotten her laughter in control she had said that she will try and find out about this couple. 

The next time he saw the couple, they had just confronted him and the man started apologizing profusely.

The woman was glaring at her husband as he apologized to him while muttering about how much of a log head she had chosen as her husband. 

Thankfully Karsi was able to clear his confusion regarding this matter from the information she had found out. 

Apparently, the woman was one of many who had benefited from the training program which he had helped kick start. She was grateful to him for that. As it was because of the training she received that she was able to defend herself from being stolen. She like many other women were given the chance to choose their own life partner of their own free will giving them a sense of freedom in that aspect of life. 

He had gotten to hold the little babe who was only a few moons old, he didn't even have a name yet as it was common among the freefolk to not name their kids before they reach their second name day. As the Harsh environment results in infant morality being common beyond the wall. It was believed to be bad luck to name the child before he or she is 2 name days old.

While holding the little child in his arms Jae was reminded of all the times when he held all his younger sisters and brothers, well cousins, in his arms when they were only a few moons old. 

* * *

When Jae - along with Mance and their small group returned yesterday after another failed attempt of trying to persuade another clan to join Mance's host- he was informed about how several young children along with the young child who he had held in his arms a number of times were missing for more than a day now.

The freefolk had also reported that the Men of the frozen shore were spotted around their camp for the past few days. 

This along with the rumours about the Men of the frozen shore stealing young children to sacrifice them to their Gods of Ice and snow did not help settle the children's devastated parents who had madly checked every corner of their freefolk camp again and again. He had come across the young couple several times looking around desperately for their firstborn child.

During Jae's time with the freefolk, he had heard about the Men of the frozen shore quite a few times. 

They had a fearful reputation. So much so that when they had refused to submit to Mance and join his host. Mance, even with the backing of some of the most experienced and ferocious fighters was reluctant to fight them in order to make them submit to him.

Anything regarding that clan was spoken in hushed whispers as the freefolk believed that they practised magic and could hear and see what the freefolk were doing all the time. 

Some of the freefolk were even convinced that the men of the frozen shore had quite a few wargs among them.

He had also been informed about how the men of the Frozen shore had at least 2 factions. One of them who followed the old God's while the other followed the gods of ice and snow. Unsurprisingly these two factions didn't get along with each other at all and preferred to occupy separate parts of the frozen shore for themselves. 

They were hostile to anyone who entered their territory. 

Mance had informed them that he would be able to get in contact with the faction that followed the old gods. Even though they were very protective of their territory, they would at least listen to reason. The same couldn't be said for the followers of the Gods of Ice and snow. As they were very hostile to anyone who entered their territory. 

It didn't help the matters here that the men of the frozen shore had a solid grip on their borders as no one could enter their territory without them knowing. 

Jae had been told by someone who had personally experienced this that no other clans could control their borders the way the men of the frozen shore did. They would know of any unwanted presence the moment a foot was set into their territory. It was not that they only knew of your presence, no they would be able to keep their eyes on you and follow you until they confront you. Make no mistake because they will confront you before you know it. Because not only did they have the ability to know of your presence, but they also had the means to travel vast distances in a very small time to confront you. 

That was made possible by their mode of transport which are chariots, made of walrus bones, pulled along by dogs as large as direwolves.

(<https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/File:Frozen_shore_men_-_walrus.jpg>) 

Mance after discussing it with all the clan leaders had decided that they will wait for the people out on hunting trips to get back before they head out towards the frozen shore and then try and contact the faction which follows the old gods before confronting the Ice and Snow god followers. This was to make sure that they didn't leave the freefolk camp defenceless against the dead. They wanted to leave as many people to defend the camp as possible in the case of any attacks from the dead. 

Jae understood the reasoning, but he felt that they will be too late to save these children whose lives were at stake and time was of the essence. So, he had sneaked out of the camp, meet up with Ghost and started making his way towards the frozen shore. Jae had also taken along a raven who he had started using to warg into along with Ghost without anyone's knowledge. 

There were some who raised their doubts if confronting the men of the frozen shore was worth it with the risk of the army of the dead attacking their camp hanging over them. They were quickly put down by the furious parents along with most of the freefolk who remained them that especially with the risk of the army of the dead the children were their future. They were the ones who they were fighting for as they knew that many will lose their lives fighting the dead, but it would be the children who would ensure the survival of the freefolk and their culture. 

* * *

**The Frozen Shore**

**The Great Walrus (301AC)**

He is known as the great walrus, the leader of the habitants of the frozen shore who follow the old gods. His people inhabit the west side of the frozen shore and fish on the northern coast of the bay of ice. They used to raid the bear islands but not anymore as now the bear islanders had a greater presence in the bay of ice and were able to successfully defend against the raids.

Men and women of the frozen shore are powerful wargs.

Most of the man and women from the frozen shore had a bear as their companions and could even ride them into battle. The Women clad themselves and their companions in sealskin.

(<https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/File:Frozen_shore_woman.jpg>) 

As for their chariots, the rider of the chariot was normally an experienced warg and half of the dogs were his skins, they were his companions. The rider would raise these dogs since they were pups to help form a strong bond.

The other half was also raised alongside them but by a different person. The dogs were from the same pack and were mostly raised by 2 siblings. One of them will be the main driver while his/her sibling would be the secondary driver. This was to make sure that they had at least some control over the chariot if the main driver was injured or died during the battle. They had introduced this precautionary measure after they had lost control of their chariots during battles in the past because they had lost the driver. 

They have respect and look up to the legend of the white wolf.

* * *

**The Story of The White Wolf.**

It was the story that every freefolk knew from their childhood. It was a story told by their mothers or the elders of their family or clan. 

It was a story of what happened thousands of years ago. 

When one of the most ancient and fiercest clans of the freefolk was wiped out to the last child. 

The clan had been known best for raiding south of the wall. But their luck ran out when they had raided the lands of the sleeping white wolf. 

The white wolf had lost his little sister when the wildling clan had raided their lands. 

There was no wall back then, this was before the wall was built. 

Back then the northerners didn't dare march north of the border into the wilding lands, the border where later on the wall was build. 

The northerners would chase the wildings raider away but never enter the haunted forest. 

There is a reason the forest is called that. 

The white wolf had then done the unthinkable. He had marched north of the border between the wilding lands and the northern lands seeking vengeance with a small force.

At that time the white wolfs clan was a small but ancient clan. He had gathered a small but loyal and strong force and marched north-seeking vengeance and following the man was his white direwolf companion.

And he had got his vengeance. Oh and how he got his vengeance. 

He has not rushed to get his vengeance, no he had waited for the right time like how his direwolf would wait for his prey to be in the optimum spot for him to pounce on and sink his teeth into the neck. 

He had not only used his physical strength but also his mental strength and had managed to finally get the whole clan gathered in one area or what remained of the clan after he had attacked them from the shadows for some moons. 

When he had them all gather. He had unleashed his wolf blood and tore into every one of them.

People may believe that the wolf blood only makes you wild and rash but that was far from the truth. There was one other aspect of it. Which was at the core of it all. 

As it also makes you fiercely protective of your pack. And if anyone of their pack was hurt or god forbid dead. Go to any length to try and fill the void that person felt behind in their heart.

It was said that he was half-wolf, as the direwolf and he would attack as one. As if they could share each other's bodies. It was similar to warging but on another level. It was not only the man warging into the wolf, but the man would also allow the dire wolf to share his own mind space. Which allowed them both to work together in synchronization.

He had tortured the ones responsible for his sister's death to the point where the remaining members had done something which was considered even worse than death by the wildlings.

He had made them kneel before him.

The elders would end the story by telling their audience that the white wolf had vowed to come back again.

It was a story told to the children to remind them not to underestimate the people south of the wall especially the descendants of the first men. 

That was where the story had ended before. But not nowadays, as now the story included how in the end when the white wolf had gotten his revenge, calmed down and stared around him at all the bodies and blood that littered the floor. Stared at all the lifeless small forms of innocent children lying on the floor with blood painting the snow red. His gaze fell on two small forms one boy and a girl both unmoving while their hands were stretched towards each other. Looking at their hair colour and their features he could guess that they were siblings, which in turn reminded him of his sister. He started to shake uncontrollably and wept at what he thought his sister would think, if she was alive, of his actions here. 

In the end, the White wolf vowed that he will come back thousands of years later when the free folk were in desperate need of help. This time he will come back to help the freefolk and accompanying him would be his ever-faithful companion, the white direwolf with red eyes. 

This story was told to not only the children but to anyone who would listen as this story gave them sometime which they desperately needed at this time.

Hope.

It gave them hope to survive the dead. 

* * *

The men of the frozen shore were one of the clans who had refused to submit to Mance Ryders.

They knew that with the treat of the others and white walkers. Their best chance was uniting and fighting together. Yet, they refused to join Mance Rayder and his host.

The main reason for that was that they just couldn't and wouldn't follow anyone who wasn't a warg. A powerful warg at that. 

Now, however, things had changed the threat from the dead was getting greater and greater. They had to work out some sort of way to work with Mance and the rest of the freefolk.

His people were willing to work alongside the rest of the freefolk. However, they were not ready to submit to Mance Rayder the King-Beyond-The-Wall. 

This sort of agreement would no doubt cause more problems. As it would result in unrest between the other clans who had already submitted to Mance. Since they would want to come to a similar agreement. But then it would mean that they will have different clan heads with different ideas and ambitions which will eventually result in the disbanding or fighting in-between themselves. That's why they needed one leader to guide them through these hard times.

He knew all that and yet he also knew that his people will never submit or follow someone who wasn't a powerful warg. Also, they knew how most of the freefolk treated and behaved towards wargs.

He had been discussing this with his fellow clansmen when they had to dismiss their talk when they got the reports of this new threat.

Their people started developing their warging abilities at a young age, by warging into small animals first. Small animals like birds. As they grow up or even while they were under training they would use these birds and other small animals scout their surrounding area to look for any dangers. 

It was they who had felt this danger first. Which had led to the more experienced wargs to scout the area, and They had found something which terrified them. 

As not only had the animals along the southern part of their border- with the Ice and snow god followers in the west- were going into hiding but when they had personally tried to scout the area using their infamous chariots. The dogs had shown great resistance to going in that area. So much so that the rider had said it best if they turned around as he didn't want to force his will in his companions. Their ancestors had found that was something a warg should never do as it had great risks. It was a delicate balance between the human and the companion, also the wargs were strongly connected with their skins. 

That wasn't even the end of their worries as even their bears which may not have shown fear but had shown reluctance and that was an ominous sign for them. To make matters worse, some of the wargs because they shared skins had felt how inferior this treat made their companions feel. A big new treat was lurking along their border.

They knew that this was a new treat and not the dead man as they had already encountered them many times before.

He had been informed about how some moons ago the Ice and snow god followers had heard about how Craster would sacrifice any sons born to him to the White Walkers and they would leave his keep alone. 

The cold god followers had decided to also sacrifice young children and offer them as offerings to their gods of ice and snow to escape the wrath of their Gods as they would say. So they had started attacking any neighbouring clans and stealing young children. 

* * *

The threat came from their border with the cold god followers. So they had to investigate as it was too close to their home and with all that their neighbours were up to these days. 

From this distance, they could make out a person standing alone against a person rising on a bear with some more people standing behind him.

He couldn't place it yet but he could sense something. His instinct or maybe they were his skins instincts which were telling him to be wary of that man. 

The great walrus locked eyes with the experienced wargs he had with him and they gave him a sublet nod. He noticed how they clenched their weapons tightly. He had to resist the urge to reach out to his spear. 

From this distance, he couldn't make out much about the figure. Normally he would have used a bird to get a closer look at the situation. 

He ordered his group to cautiously move ahead. It felt like it took longer then it should for them to cover some distance to be able to make out more details about the situation ahead of them.

Soon they were close enough to make out more details about this new threat. 

He knew that the people and the two men knew of their presence even though they were busy glaring at each other. 

He recognised the man riding on the bear as the leader of their neighbouring rival clan. 

As for the man standing all alone across from him, from his outfit and his features he recognised him as the crow who had joined Mance's around 2 years ago. Over the past year, he had been informed of the changes the young mans proposed training method had brought to the camp. Their fighting skills had increased, and they were more willing to work together from what his sources from inside Mance's host told him. He was also informed of how the women were also benefiting from this and more and more women were taking up arms and learning to fight and defend. This was something which he was glad to hear, as the leader of a clan whose women were as feared on the battlefield as the men. After all, he knew that they won't be able to survive against the dead with only their men and a few women fighting. 

The young man had earned the respect of most of Mance's host and he was making a name for himself as "The Wild Crow" among all of the freefolk. 

* * *

"You are too late crow. The ritual is complete they are all gone" The man laughed mockingly at the young man. 

They were just children, they had this pure innocence which was yet to be corrupted by the world. Yet, even they weren't spared from this harsh world.

He had failed those children, maybe if he had felt Ghost back at the camp instead of taking him along to the talks with the clans, then things might have been different. Maybe if.....No, there were a lot of possibilities of what could have been but the heart-wrenching truth was that the children were sacrificed and they weren't coming back.

This was only the 3rd time in his life when Jae remembered being so overwhelmed by his emotions. The first being on the night he found out about his parents and the second time on that night on top of the wall with Nys. 

The Great walrus glared- he also heard his people spitting on the ground and voicing how disgusted they were with their rivals- at the man and his group as he deduced that he must have stolen some children from Mance's host to sacrifice to their gods of Ice and Snow. He could see that the young man had his fists clenched at his sides with his head bowed. 

The man looking at how the young man looked defeated laughed cruelly and looked to his left, where a shadow cat soon appeared- probably his second skin- and started running towards the defeated looking young man. 

Before the Great walrus could even think of what action to take, he and most of the people present there felt it. 

Jae's emotions were raging all over the place, with his rage knowing no limits, because of his bond with Ghost, these same emotions were felt by Ghost. 

All the wargs in the area could feel the instincts of their skins telling them to get away from the threat. This is what they felt, a strong urge to back down before they saw before their very own eyes a Legend reborn. 

The Shadowcat was getting ready to pounce before it was set upon and taken down by a white beast of a creature. 

The man had fallen off his bear from the effects of witnessing the death of one of his skins. 

The beast growled at them all the while baring his blood-stained teeth at them. But something felt off, soon they realised that it wasn't the white direwolf who was growling at them, but the young man still standing there. Who had not moved an inch even in the presence of the beast. 

The beast kept his Red eyes on them as he slowly moved towards the man and stood beside him. 

It was the white wolf come again. 


End file.
